How Things Change
by JazzyJane
Summary: They were the best and the oddest of teenage friends... but circumstances pulled them apart. When the zombie apocalypse happens, fate throws them together once more, but in a most unexpected way. Will their friendship be torn apart because of stubbornness and miscommunication? Rated M for language and other reasons! Daryl/OC
1. Chapter 1

The sounds of so many feet running his way startled him. He tried to get up but the pain was just to much, he'd never be able to get far. He sunk back down and pressed himself against the trunk of a tree. Hopefully, whom ever it was would pass right by.

Daryl held his breath as the sounds got louder. A young girl, around twelve years old, broke through the bushes. Daryl stared at her defiantly as she took in his blackened eye and cut lip. The sounds of others crashing through the underbrush sent her spinning around and she ran back the way she came.

"Great," Daryl thought to himself, "Now they'll all come." Except they didn't. A few minutes later he heard the sounds of people moving away from him. Daryl wrapped his arms around himself as he felt his eyes begin to droop. He drifted back off to sleep.

Daryl awoke as hands pushed the blanket in around him. "What do ya think you're doin'?" he spat as he scooted away.

It was the same girl from earlier. "Well for starters I'm trying to make sure you don't freeze Daryl Dixon. In case you hadn't noticed you're not exactly dressed for the weather."

Daryl had noticed. He had run out of the house without his jacket last night and he doubted it had even reached forty today. "You know who I am?" he asked warily.

The girl knelt down next to him and opened up her backpack. "Sure. My daddy was real mad when you're father refused to sell him that land." She passed him a sandwich which he gratefully tore into. "Pointed you out one day in town."

"O's yur dad?" Daryl asked around the food.

"Jim Mitchell," she said matter-of-factly.

Daryl spit the food out in surprise. "Your Mayor Mitchell's daughter?" The Mitchells owned all the land surrounding the house Daryl's father had moved them to after his mother died. Daryl faintly remembered his father saying something about Jim Mitchell wanting to buy the place, but that was years ago.

The girl looked down at the half chewed food all over the blanket. She reached in and pulled out another sandwich. "Here, try to eat this one okay?" Her voice was filled with exasperation. "So what happened to your face?"

Daryl shifted uncomfortably. "Nothin', I just took a tumble is all."

She snorted. "My mama would say it looks like you took a tumble right onto someone's fist. Did you lose a fight or something?"

Daryl did what he always did when he was uncomfortable. He lashed out. "Why don't you mind your own fucking business. I don't need your help." He moved to push up from the ground but sank back down as soon as he put any weight on his ankle. He had twisted it last night trying to get away from his father.

She looked at him appraisingly. "Fine, it's your business." She pulled out an apple for herself and bit down. She looked away from him as she continued to eat.

Daryl felt bad for yelling at her. "What's your name anyway?" He picked up the second sandwich and began to eat. Slowly this time.

She smiled at him. "Olivia. I'm a couple of years behind you in school. I'm in seventh, so by the time I get to high school, you'll be a junior."

Daryl polished off the last of the sandwich and took the bottle of water she held out. "What else you got in that thing?" he asked indicating the backpack.

"Oh," Olivia gathered up the sandwich baggies and wrapping up her apple core in them, she stuck the trash into the front pocket. "I forgot. Here." She pulled out a bottle of ibuprofen and one of those chemical ice baggies. The kind that you have to pop to get cold. "You look like you could use it."

Daryl shook out a couple of the pills and tossed them back. "Do always carry this shi... stuff around with you?" Olivia looked at him for a moment and started to laugh. "What?" Daryl asked angrily. He didn't like her laughing at him.

She didn't seem intimidated by him in the least. "Why would I carry all this stuff with me everywhere? I went home and packed it up after I saw you earlier."

Daryl popped the ice bag and bent over to lay it against his ankle. He all but groaned with relief. "Who was with you?" he asked.

Olivia shrugged. "My friends, we were going to cut through to head to Amy's house. You didn't look like you wanted company so I told them that I saw a Copperhead. They all turned around real quick."

Daryl started to chuckle. "I bet. Guess they didn't know it's too cold for snakes today."

Olivia shook her head as she smiled. "No, none of them are really the outdoorsy type." She moved down to his ankle and started pulling off his shoe.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Daryl asked indignantly.

Olivia looked up at him patiently. "You might have broken it. I should see."

Daryl moved his leg away from her. "What are you a fucking doctor?" He didn't need her help.

She sighed with exasperation, "I've taken some first aid classes. If it's broken you can't walk out of here. We'll need to call someone." She sat there looking at him. Waiting for him to respond.

"Fine," Daryl spat out. "Just don't make it worse." He watched as she removed his shoe then started bending his foot gently in different directions.

"Anything hurt?" she asked. Daryl just shook his head. "Okay how about here?" She pressed on a spot below that bone that juts out of the side of the ankle. Daryl hissed. She sat back and nodded. "I think it's just a sprain, but you might have torn something. It's not broken though," she moved to put his shoe back on.

Daryl pulled his leg away from her. "I can do that." He gritted his teeth as he pulled the shoe on and started tying up the laces. "Where'd you learn that anyway?"

Olivia looked over at him. "Girl scouts. My friends might not spend much time outside but I'm an outdoor kind of girl." She packed everything up, including the blanket. "Come on, I'll help you."

Daryl couldn't go back yet. His father might still be mad. It would be best to wait till night and sneak in when the old man was passed out. That way he might not even remember when he woke up the next morning.

After a moment she spoke. "I can't bring you all the way back to your house, it's too far, but there's someplace close by we can go. Get off this cold ground."

Daryl hopped up. He wondered if she could tell he didn't want to go home. He tentatively put some of his weight on his foot. It still hurt, but the ibuprofen and ice had made it bearable. "Here, let me help." She picked up his arm and slipped under it, putting her hand around his waist. Daryl leaned very lightly on her. After a couple of small steps she looked over at him. "Gonna take us all night at this rate. Go ahead and lean on me. I can take it."

Daryl looked down doubtfully. She was tiny for her age. Still, she was right. Daryl put more weight on her. She smiled and nudged them forward. It was a while before he realized where she was taking him. "I can't go to your house." The thought itself scared the crap out of him.

She laughed lightly. "Don't worry, I have someplace else in mind." When they got to the edge of the clearing surrounding her house she followed the tree line till they came to an outbuilding. She pushed open the door and lead him in.

Daryl felt his jaw drop as he hobbled through the door. It was a large guest house. It was probably bigger than his entire house. "Come on," she urged him on and helped him sit on a bean bag chair.

"What is this?" he asked with wonder. There were all sorts of chairs and pillows everywhere. There was even a day bed. And there were books, everywhere. All sorts of books. They were on the shelves and piled up next to every chair.

Olivia looked around. "This is my place. My parents let me use it for a kind of hangout. There's a bathroom through there if you need it, or if you want to take a shower there's towels in the cabinet." She stood up and grabbed her bag. "I have to go in, but there's snacks in the cabinets and some drinks in the fridge. I'll be back later."

"Wait!" Daryl called out. Where was she going? She couldn't just be leaving him here.

She looked over her shoulder at him as she pulled the door open. "Don't worry, no one will come down here. Oh, catch." She reached into the bag and tossed him the bottle of ibuprofen. "Just in case you need more before I get back." She pulled the door shut behind her.

Daryl looked down at the bottle in his hand, and noticed his hand. It was filthy, for that matter, so was the rest of him. She did say he could use the shower.

Forty-five minutes later Daryl wrapped a thick towel around his hips. That had been an experience. Who knew a shower could be like that? There were water spouts all over the walls and they spit out water at regular intervals depending on where he turned the knob. It had sure succeeded in driving the chill from his bones.

He was just opening up the cabinets to see what was available when she walked back in. Daryl saw her eyes go wide as she took in the copious number of bruises and scars. He would've liked to turn around, hide the marks, but his back was worse than his front. He had to give it to her though, after a moment she just brought her eyes back to his face and asked, "Are you finding everything alright?"

Daryl nodded, "Yeah, I was just looking for something to eat." Her eyes travelled from him to the cabinets, a smile playing around the edges of her lips.

"So I see." She set down a plate on the edge of the counter and reached into her bag and pulled out some sweatpants and sweatshirt. "Here, these belong to my brother. He keeps a few things here still, but he'll never notice they're missing."

Daryl was hesitant to accept them, but truthfully his clothes were filthy and damp. He had been putting off getting dressed. After a quick debate, he figured his pride had all but been smashed to hell today anyway. He reached out to take them. Looking at the plate on the counter he asked, "What's that?" He yanked the sweatshirt over his head and hopped back to the bathroom to don the pants.

Olivia called out her answer. "Pecan pie. We had some for desert last night, and I thought you'd like some. Sarah makes the best pie." She looked over at him when he came back out. She pressed her lips together as she took in Daryl in her much older brother's clothes. "Why don't you sit down and I'll bring some over to you?" She turned her back to him and pulled out some disposable plates and forks.

Daryl shuffled over and sat down on one of the many chairs scattered throughout the room. When Olivia brought him the pie, he asked, "Why are you doing this?" As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he wished he could take them back. His eyes fixated on the plate in his hands as he felt the heat of a blush creep up his neck.

It took her so long to answer he finally chanced glancing up at her. Her eyes were thoughtful as she gazed at him. Finally she shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I just wanted to try out my first aid skills." She flashed a smile at him.

Daryl knew she wasn't giving him a truthful answer, but he was glad. He had been afraid that she might say something like she had felt badly for him, or that he had looked like he needed help. Pushing it aside he asked, "Where's your brother?"

"Atlanta. He just started law school there. My dad was so proud when he got in." She chuckled lightly to herself. "Not like there was ever a chance that he wouldn't. Mike is so straight and narrow, I doubt he went to a single party all during college." She picked up a piece of pie. "What about your brother? What's he up to?"

Daryl just about choked on his pie. "You know 'bout Merle?" Olivia just nodded as she waited for his answer. "Merle's uh... well, see... he's uh... in prison." Daryl paused as he waited for her reaction. Olivia just speared another piece of pie and placed it in her mouth. "Merle's got a bit of a temper," Daryl explained. "He punched a sergeant. Got himself sixteen months. Probably wouldn't have been so long, except he knocked out the guy's front teeth."

The sound of Olivia's laughter was a shock. "A bit of a temper? Sounds like he has a whole lot of one." Daryl watched as she tucked her legs up under her in the chair.

Unable to help himself, he started to laugh with her. "Yeah, well, that's Merle." He looked around the room. "Did you read all of these?" He picked up a few of the books that were stacked up next to him. Some were fiction, but a lot were biographies or history books. There were other subjects mixed in too.

"Working on it." Olivia grabbed the plates and walked over to throw them out. "Want something to drink?" At Daryl's nod she grabbed a couple of sodas and passed him one. "You like to read?"

Daryl shot her a dry look. "Do I look like I read a lot?"

"Well what does someone who reads look like? Pocket protectors and cokebottle glasses? Do I look like I read a lot?" She sounded somewhat offended.

Daryl looked over at her, taking in her appearance. She had hair that was the color of copper that hung just past her shoulders in gentle waves. Her eyes were a surprisingly clear color of green. In a few years, she'd be a knockout. "Guess not," was all he said.

They spent the next few hours talking about inconsequential things and playing cards. She was surprisingly good at poker. So good, she had the majority of the jelly beans stacked up in front of her.

When the phone rang, Daryl just about fell out of his seat. This place seemed so private, he had almost forgotten that there was a whole other world out there. Olivia jumped up to grab the handset. Without even saying hello she said, "Okay, be there in a second." She hung up and turned back to him. "Dinner. I have to go. I'll come back later, bring you something to eat alright?"

"Won't you have to stay at the house?" Daryl asked.

She shook her head. "No. My parents are used to me being out here. Think they like it better that way anyways." She turned and headed out the door as Daryl was left wondering what she had meant by that.

Sure enough she was back about an hour later. They resumed their poker game after Daryl ate the dinner she brought back for him. When she cleaned him out, he threw down his cards in disgust. "Let's do something else."

He could see Olivia trying to suppress a smile. "Sure." She popped up and walked over to a stack of books. "Here." She held out a book. "Try it, I think you'll like it."

Daryl reluctantly took the book that she had thrust at him. It was a book about Cherokee indians. He looked up at her with a disbelieving look on his face. "This wasn't what I meant."

She only chuckled in response as she spread out some pillows on the floor and settled in with a book of her own. Daryl sighed and opened the book. "Jesus," he thought to himself. "It doesn't even have any pictures. Why would anyone read this for fun?" However, he soon became engrossed in the story. Hours later he shut the book and was surprised to see Olivia curled up asleep on the floor. The clock on the wall said it was two-fifteen in the morning.

Daryl tossed back some more ibuprofen and threw a blanket over the sleeping girl. He gathered up his things and headed home, hoping that his father was passed out for the night.

It was two weeks later before he saw her again. He was down at Daly's Pharmacy, buying a soda when she walked in with a group of girlfriends. When she saw him, she skipped lightly to his side. "Glad to see that your face healed up nice."

Daryl looked over her shoulder at the girls behind her. They were all staring at them with surprised expressions on their faces. "What do you want?" he asked harshly.

Olivia's smile faltered. "I just wanted to say hi. See how you've been."

Daryl looked down at her. "I'd be great if you weren't bugging me." He tossed the coins on the counter and pushed past her out the door.

Three hours later he stood in the trees looking at the guest house. Finally he took a chance she'd be there and pushed open the door. She looked up from where she was sitting, shock written all over her face.

Daryl cleared his throat and shuffled back and forth. "I'm sorry 'bout earlier." He waited for her to say something but she just kept looking at him, her eyes wide. "Anyways... I just wanted to say thanks for the other day." He turned to leave.

"Did you like the book?" she asked softly.

He turned back and shrugged. "It was okay as far as books go I guess."

She smiled gently at him. "Come on in. Grab a few sodas out of the fridge too."

That was how it started. They were friends after that day. Although in public, they didn't so much as look at each other. But Daryl would sneak away and they would hang out for hours in the guest house. She'd pick out books for him to read, and for the most part he enjoyed them. She gave him a key, and whenever he needed to get out of his father's house he'd head there. She started stocking foods that she knew he liked in the tiny kitchen, and he taught her how to hunt. When her prom date got drunk and refused to let her drive, it was Daryl she called to come pick her up. He borrowed Merle's bike and the two of them spent hours driving along the winding roads of north Georgia.

Even after his father took off one day and never came back, by unspoken agreement she never came to his house. That was until two weeks before she was supposed to head off for college. Daryl had been laying in his bed, trying to block out the sounds of Merle and his group. They were all drunk and were predictably going on and on about how much better white people were from everyone else. The incessant rapping on the door had him bolting up in bed. Usually when he heard knocking like that it was the cops coming to pick Merle up for something or another.

As soon as he pulled his clothes on, he threw open his bedroom door just in time to hear Merle let out a whistle. "Well, well.. lookie what we have here. Come on in honey. Come make ol' Merle feel good." The cackles from the other people around the room drowned out her answer.

Daryl looked around the people clustered in the doorway. He was shocked to see Olivia standing there. It had to be something major to bring her over here. When she saw Daryl step out, she pushed her way past Merle and ran across the room. As she threw herself in his arms she started sobbing. Daryl wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back to his room.

When the door was shut, she managed to choke out, "She's dead, my momma's dead." Daryl sucked in a sharp breath. He knew her mom had been sick for a while with cancer, but Olivia kept saying that she was starting to get better.

Suddenly there were catcalls and rude comments about Olivia being shouted through the door. Daryl let go of her and marched over. He threw open the door, a furious expression on his face. Merle was standing outside thrusting his hips in a lewd manner. "Knock it the fuck off Merle! Her mother just died!" Daryl growled. Even as the smile was fading from Merle's face, Daryl slammed the door shut.

He turned around to find Olivia sitting on the edge of the bed. "Do you have any tissues?" She asked tearfully.

Tissues? This house? Half the time they were lucky if they had toilet paper. Daryl hurried over to a stack of clothes and grabbed an old t-shirt. It had been washed so many times there were holes everywhere, but it was soft. "Here," he said, passing it to her as he sat down on the bed. "What happened?"

Olivia shook her head, her breath catching in her throat. "I don't know, I don't know why she did it." The sobs over took her again. Daryl stared down at her in dismay as he realized that her mother must have killed herself. "It was just us at the house today and she asked me to go get her some tea. I went downstairs to get it and she must have swallowed the whole bottle of pills while I was gone. I didn't know. I swear I didn't know. I would have called someone." She turned and buried her face in his chest.

He ran his fingers through her hair and pressed his lips to her forehead. "Of course you didn't know. How could you have?"

Olivia's head shook rapidly back and forth. Daryl could barely understand her through the sobbing. "My father.. he told me I should have been watching her closer... He said it's my fault." The last part came out as a wail.

Daryl felt his jaw tighten. He never much liked Olivia's father. Once it became clear to him that Olivia wasn't going to let him shape her into whatever he thought she should be, he stopped paying attention to her. He seemed to treat her as an afterthought. But Daryl never thought he would be so cruel to his only daughter.

"Your father's wrong," Daryl said bluntly. "He'll realize it when he calms down." He continued rubbing her back until the sobs slowed into the occasional gasp. He pulled her head back and looked down at her. "I know you loved your mother and she knew it too." He kissed the tip of her nose lightly.

She looked up at him, her green eyes even brighter from crying. "Can I stay here tonight?" She asked hesitantly. "I don't want to go home."

Daryl nodded. "Sure. Stay here for a moment. I'll go get you some water." Daryl pulled himself away from her and stepped out into the kitchen.

"All done already?" Merle's friend John asked. He opened up his mouth to say something else when Merle's hand smacked him hard enough on the back of the head to cause his forehead to bounce off the table.

"Shut up," Merle snarled. He walked over to where Daryl was searching for a glass that was clean. "She alright?" he asked quietly.

Daryl nodded tightly. "Yeah, she's gonna stay here tonight though." He finally found a stack of paper cups and filled one up. Merle just watched as Daryl headed back into his room.

When Daryl pushed open the door, he stopped dead in his tracks. Olivia was just finishing up buttoning one of his shirts. The hem skimmed the tops of her thighs and when she lowered her hands only her fingertips peaked out from the end of the cuffs. "I hope you don't mind," she said, brushing her hand over the front. "My clothes weren't that comfortable."

"Uh, no... It's fine." Daryl felt like someone had just hit him in the head with a hammer. For the first time he realized how beautiful Olivia had really become. Not only was her face amazing with high cheekbones, and a small straight nose, but her legs were shapely and firm, and the tips of her breast jutted out against the cotton of the shirt. Her hair had darkened slightly over the years and it now hung almost to her waist. Never did he ever think that old shirt could be considered sexy. Until now.

He was so caught up in looking at her, he didn't realize she was speaking to him. "Sorry, what?"

She pointed to the cup in his hand. "Is that for me?"

Daryl looked down at the cup he had forgotten he was holding. "Oh, yeah. Here." He passed it over to her. As she took a sip Daryl said, "If you need anything else, I'll just be..." he jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

Olivia put the cup down on the table. "Daryl? Could you just stay with me? I don't want to be by myself." She climbed under the covers.

It wouldn't be the first time they had fallen asleep together, but it would be the first time that Daryl was thinking of her as something other than a friend. Still he couldn't tell her no. He peeled off his shirt and climbed in next to her. "Don't you want to take your jeans off?" she asked.

"I ah.. well, I was already in bed when you came. I just pulled these on." Daryl stuttered.

Olivia looked at him for a moment and then started to laugh. "Do you mean you go commando?"

Daryl did not want to be talking about this. "Shut up Olivia." He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her down. She laid her head on his shoulder and snuggled up to him, wrapping one arm around his waist and threading her leg through his. Daryl had to bite back a groan.

After a few minutes of silence Olivia whispered his name. "Hmm?" he replied.

She stretched up to kiss him lightly on the cheek. "Thank you Daryl. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been here." When she settled back down, Daryl lightly laid his hand on her head and stroked her hair gently. It was a long time before he got to sleep that night.

The next morning he was cooking some breakfast when she stepped out of his room. Daryl was both disappointed and relieved that she had put her clothes back on. Disappointed because she had looked so good in his shirt, relieved because a few of Merle's buddies were passed out on various furniture. "Want something? We got eggs."

Olivia shook her head. "No, I have to get back. People will start to notice I'm gone." Daryl knew she meant her father.

Daryl pushed the eggs off the burner. "Come on, I'll walk you home." Olivia started to protest. "Knock it off, I said I'd walk you home," he said brashly.

The trip back to her house was quiet, each of them preoccupied with their own thoughts. When they reached the edge of her lawn, she turned and gave him a tight hug. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in even closer. Suddenly she turned and ran silently up to the house and went in through the back door.

Daryl headed back to his house. Merle was sitting at the kitchen table eating the eggs he had cooked earlier. "So who was that?" Merle asked.

Daryl grabbed a couple more eggs from the fridge and moved over to the stove. "A friend," was all he said.

Merle shoveled more food in his mouth. "Sum friend. Wish I had a friend that looked like that." When Daryl only grunted in response, he continued. "So where you been hidin' her? Hope you're at least getting some of that."

"Shut up Merle, don't talk about her like that." Daryl scooped out the eggs and sat down across from him. He was so focused on eating that he didn't see the look Merle gave him.

Olivia was so busy with the funeral that he didn't see her again till the night before she left for school. When he stepped into the guest house she bounded up from the books she was packing and ran over to give him a hug. "Oh, I was hoping I'd see you tonight." She tugged him over to the counter. "Here, I picked out a few for you to keep."

Daryl looked at the counter. It was covered in books. "A few? Livi, I can't take these." He looked over the stacks. One book in particular caught his eye. It was the book about the Cherokee she had given him to read so long ago. "How 'bout I just take this one?"

Olivia nodded. She looked at him for a long moment. "Daryl? I'm scared. What if I don't do well, or I don't fit in?"

He looked at her surprised. Livi had always seemed so sure of herself. "Of course you'll do well. You got what? Like one A minus your entire high school career?" He wrapped his arms around her. "And don't worry about fitting in. You'll be the most popular girl there before you know it. Duke's lucky to have you. Okay?" He ran his hand over her hair, amazed at the silky feeling of it.

She pulled back. "Okay. How about you help me pack some of these books up before I go?" They spent the rest of the evening talking as they packed up the guest house. When it was time for her to head in, they stepped outside.

"I'm going to miss you, but I'll be back for Christmas break." She said quietly.

He gave her a hard hug. "It'll be here before you know it." He brushed his lips lightly against hers. "I'll see you then."

"I'll see you at Christmas," she said softly. Daryl watched as she walked back to the house. As she pushed the kitchen door open she turned and gave him a small wave.

Daryl walked back to his place. He wondered how many days it was until her Christmas break. He never knew for sure. Sixty-two days after she left, her father put the house on the market and moved.

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**So please review. I like seeing what everyone thinks about the story. It helps keep me on track, as well as see what does or doesn't work for everyone. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I have had such a busy week. I've moved into my new house, school is going full tilt and life is just generally crazy. The snow is finally just about melted from the blizzard we had two weeks ago, but they have snow in the forecast all week long. I can't wait for summer. Needless to say, I've been working on this story whenever I can, but with everything going on, sometimes I'm lucky to fit it in for fifteen minutes. It makes it hard because you lose the flow of ideas and you have to kind of psych yourself back up for it. Writers will know what I'm talking about. Anyways, I am working on it, but those of you that read my last story might be used to a much, much faster posting schedule. Just be patient, it's coming. **

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He pushed the door open with his crossbow. It was blocked halfway by a chair or something. Daryl waited a moment but he didn't hear any walkers. Slowly he entered the old house. Suddenly he felt the coldness of steel press up against the side of his head.

"Drop the crossbow and turn around," the voice said.

It wasn't so much the words as the voice itself that had him complying. He turned around slowly. He couldn't see her well, she was hidden in the shadows of the door. "Olivia?" he whispered, doubt and hope lacing his voice.

He heard a gasp and she stepped forward. "Daryl?" Her hands flew to cover her mouth. "Oh my God! Daryl!" She reached out towards him.

Daryl couldn't believe that it was really her. How many times had he thought about her? But it was her, she looked different, older, but it was still her. Daryl crossed the distance between them in less than a second. He wrapped his arms around her as she pressed her head into the corner of his neck.

Joy swelled up through him. So long ago he had given up on ever seeing her again, it seemed like a dream holding her in his arms once more. She had been the best friend he ever had. Maybe even his only true friend.

"Daryl, I can't believe it's you!" Her laugh was like music to his ears. "Although why I would doubt it, I don't know. If someone would survive this, it would be you." Suddenly her hands gripped his shoulders and he felt her breath catch.

"Olivia?" he asked, his voice concerned. He stepped back to look at her. One of her hands came off his shoulder to grip the bottom of her stomach. Her rather large stomach. Daryl stared at her in shock.

Panting, she lifted her head to look at him. "Surprise," she said dryly.

Daryl started stammering. "You're not... you can't... I mean now?" His eyes were wide as they skimmed over her body.

A small laugh escaped from her lips. "I can and I most certainly am. Now." She rubbed her hand over her belly.

A quick scan around the room told Daryl she was alone. Panic swept through his body. Daryl started tugging at her arm, trying to get her out the door. "Come on, there's a doctor, well, a vet. But he can help. I'll get you back there." He was halfway out the door before he realized she was tugging back.

"Daryl, stop. I can't go anywhere. I can't run. I was lucky to find this place." As if to demonstrate her point, she bent over with another contraction. "I have to go lay down," she panted. She turned back into the house.

Daryl stood there for a moment before hurrying in after her. He shut the door behind him and wedged a chair under the knob. He watched as she lowered herself onto a sofa. "So Daryl? What've you been doing since the last time I saw you?" She asked nonchalantly, like they had run into each other at the grocery store or something. When he didn't answer she looked over at him. "Oh, come on. You just going to stand there and stare at me?" Her voice got softer. "Please Daryl, I need something to distract me here."

He pulled up a chair and sat down next to her. "Where's your husband?" he asked for lack of anything else to say. His mind was strangely blank.

She rolled her eyes at him. "That jerk? We tried for a year to have a baby, and the day that I tell him that finally I'm pregnant, he leaves. Says he was wrong, he's not ready for a baby. And oh, by the way, he's been having an affair with his secretary for six months. He moved out that day. I helped him pack by way of the window."

Daryl couldn't help the snarl that escaped. "Asshole," he muttered. He wondered how her husband could have been such a fool.

She hissed as another contraction gripped her. Daryl reached out and grabbed her hand. "Jesus, she has a strong grip," he couldn't help but think as all the blood left his fingers. He rubbed her hand with the one that still had feeling. "I've missed you so much. I can't tell you how often I thought about you," he heard himself say. Why did things always seem to slip out so easily around her?

Olivia looked up at him. "I know, I've thought a lot about you over the years too. When daddy moved, I didn't know how to get in touch with you. Could you believe in all those years I never got your phone number or your address?"

Daryl chuckled. "Honestly, the phone didn't work half the time, and why would you write? You only lived less than a mile away." He smoothed her hair out of her face. "Olivia, what are you doing here alone?"

She shrugged. "How does anyone end up alone? They came, and everyone scattered. You know how they say you outrun a bear? That you don't have to outrun the bear, just the other guy? Well, I would have been the other guy. I ducked into one of the cars and hid under a blanket. They passed me by and when it was quiet again I grabbed my stuff and headed out. Would have taken a car but didn't have keys to any of them. That was about three weeks ago."

Daryl was shocked. It was tough to make it a day in the woods by yourself, let alone that amount of time. "Three weeks? How'd you manage to get by?"

"You Daryl Dixon. All those hunting lessons ended up being good for something. At college I got on a competition team for archery. When everything started, it was the only weapon I had, so I dug it out of it's case." Olivia pushed herself up. "Give me a hand. I need to move around."

Daryl pulled her up from the couch. "Thought you said you needed to lay down."

Olivia shot him a dirty look. "You do this without pain meds. Trust me, you won't know what you want either." She grabbed hold of the counter and rocked herself back and forth. Daryl instinctively reached out to rub her lower back. Olivia groaned. "God that feels so good."

Daryl gulped. He was way in over his head. Way, way over his head. "Olivia? How long for... you know, everything?" He was still hoping that maybe someway he could get her back. Or maybe he could get Hershel to her.

She blew her breath out heavily. "I have no idea. Never done this before. Things seem to be moving along pretty well though. Maybe it's because the baby is early."

Her words did nothing to calm him. Instead they did the opposite. "Early? How early?" Daryl's eyes slid over her again, as if expecting the baby to come out at any minute.

She closed her eyes as another contraction began. "Three, four weeks. It's a little hard to keep the days straight. How far apart are they coming?"

Daryl's eyes darted to the window. "What do you mean? I don't see anything." When he looked back at her, he was afraid she was going to reach out and choke him. "Oh! Um, I don't know, I wasn't really keeping track. Was I supposed to?"

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Just take a stab at it Daryl. From the beginning of one to the beginning of the next. As you can guess, my sense of time is a little distorted right now."

Daryl thought back. "Every four minutes give or take. Is that good?"

Olivia nodded. "We got some time, but yeah. It's good. Should probably see what's around here for stuff. I hadn't gotten the chance before you came." She shot him a smile. "Daryl? I'm really glad you're here."

He reached out and wiped the sweat from her brow. "Yeah, me too. Think you'll be okay here for a few minutes? I'll go look around." Olivia nodded and he stepped away. After he had taken three steps he turned around and asked, "What am I looking for anyway?"

Olivia laughed. "Scissors, rubbing alcohol, towels, a suction bulb, something to tie the umbilical cord off, any baby stuff.. just anything that you think might be helpful."

He watched her hands grip the counter tightly. He could do this. "I'll be right back," he said to her as he turned and moved quickly through the house. There was no baby stuff, but he did find most of the other things. There were some things in the house that he made note of to pack up later.

When he reached her, he placed everything on the table. She seemed relieved to see him. "What are you doing out here Daryl? Are you alone?"

Daryl shook his head. "I'm looking for someone. Lost a little girl. The rest of the group is back at the farm."

"Your little girl? How little?"

"No, not mine. Guess she's 'bout the same age you were when we first met. Remember that day?" She nodded and turned to grip his shoulders as another contraction began. "Can't believe you came back to practice your first aid skills on me." His hands kneading at the muscles in her lower back.

She cried out, muffling the sound in his shirt. Daryl stilled his hands, afraid he had hurt her. "No, keep going," she groaned. When she could, she raised her head up. "It's going to hurt Daryl. There's no getting around it."

Daryl could feel that he was as white as a sheet. How he wished someone was here, anyone. But it was just him. He could do this. For the next two hours he walked her around, rubbed her back and told her various stories to distract her as much as he could. Finally she looked at him. "I have to push. I have to."

Daryl bent down to try to pull her jeans off. "Probably should have done this before," he said mostly to himself. The problem was, she couldn't pick her feet up long enough to allow him to slide the legs off. Finally he just stood up and picked her up. He laid her down on the kitchen table, and yanked the jeans and underwear off her. Running over to the couch, he grabbed a couple of pillows to put behind her. When he got back, she was already propping herself up in a semi-sitting position.

"What are you doing? Aren't you supposed to lay down?" he asked frantically. Olivia bared her teeth at him. "Right. Whatever you want." He waited a moment. "Are you pushing?" She let out her breath and curled back over her belly. "Stupid question," he muttered to himself. As soon as she leaned back, panting, he said, "Olivia, I don't know what to do. You have to tell me what to do."

She smiled over at him. "You have the easiest job in the world. All you have to do is catch."

He watched and another contraction came over her, then another and another. Soon he could see the top of the head whenever she pushed. "It's coming! I can see it!" He cried out excitedly. Four more pushes and the head was out. "Almost there Olivia," he encouraged her. To himself he just kept repeating, "Don't drop the baby, don't drop the baby."

When the baby did come, it was fast. One second it was still inside her, then the next it was in his hands. "Give me," he heard Olivia say. He gently laid the baby on her chest. It wasn't crying. Why wasn't it crying? "Daryl, give me some of those towels." Mindlessly he did as she asked. Olivia started rubbing the baby and a minute later he heard the first sounds from it. It started off as a whimper, then escalated into a full wail.

Daryl released the breath he didn't know he was holding. Olivia started laughing as she leaned back, the baby wrapped tightly in her arms. She turned to him and grasped his hand. "What is it?" she asked.

Daryl looked at her stupidly. He hadn't even bothered to check. "Don't you know?"

Oliva shook her head and removed her hand from his to unwrap the baby. "It's a little girl. I have a little girl." The smile that she gave him could have lit up the entire room.

Daryl sat down heavily in the chair next to the table. He looked over at Olivia, amazed. She was currently inspecting every inch of her new daughter. He couldn't believe that they did it, that she did it. She was every bit as beautiful as he remembered, even more so.

Once the cord was cut and the placenta was out, he helped her get cleaned up. As soon as she was settled on the couch with the baby he sank into the recliner next to her. As they looked at each other, it seemed like no time at all had passed since they were last together.

Olivia's eyes got teary. "I can't believe that today of all days, I found you. Or rather you found me." She sniffled. "I was so scared."

Daryl moved over to sit next to her. "You? Scared? That doesn't sound like you." He pulled the blanket up around her and peeked in at the bundle in her arms. "What are you going to name her?"

Olivia looked up from the baby. "You know, I have no idea. I kept thinking I'd have plenty of time, and then all this happened. After that, it kind of seemed like bad luck."

"Well she's real pretty Livi." He brushed the baby's cheek with his fingertip.

His use of her childhood nickname made her smile. "You know, you're the only one that ever called me that," she said. "It's been so long since I've heard it." She shut her eyes for a moment. "Must be close to fifteen years."

Thirteen years, ten months and 17 days. "Just about," was all he said. Just then Olivia's stomach grumbled. "You hungry?" She nodded. He had already eaten the lunch he packed, but he should be able to catch something fairly quickly. "Hold on, I'll be right back."

As he stood to leave, she grabbed hold of his hand. He looked down at her. "I know how take care of myself. No worries." He gave her a quick squeeze and was gone out the back door.

He was gone about thirty minutes. Just enough time to catch a couple of rabbits. It was just in time too, the sun was starting to set. Daryl wondered about the others back at the farm, if they would worry. Carol might. He couldn't do anything about it now, and Olivia couldn't hike the five miles back yet, maybe tomorrow as long as she was doing alright.

Daryl quickly skinned and gutted the carcasses and brought them inside along with some firewood. Hopefully the fireplace in there didn't smoke too bad. Daryl pushed the back door open and as soon as it was shut again he looked over at the couch. "Oh, sorry," he said as he turned his head. He could feel himself turning red.

Olivia looked up from where she was trying to feed the baby. "Don't worry about it, after you delivered her, I've lost all modesty."

Daryl paused. He hadn't thought about it like that. Shrugging his shoulders, he went about cooking them a meal. As soon as the rabbit was roasting, he headed over to sit next to her.

She looked up from what she was doing. "What am I doing wrong? She won't eat. What if something's wrong with her?" She sounded slightly frantic. "I thought they just latched right on."

"Relax Livi, I'm sure she's fine. It's probably like anything else. Just takes a little practice and patience." He took in her position. She was all leaned over and looked tense. "Maybe you should try to relax yourself. Here, sit back. Isn't there another way to hold her? You know," Daryl made some motions with his hands. "Maybe she'll like it better like that."

Olivia nodded and sat back against the couch. She closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself. After a minute she picked the baby up off her lap and tried again. This time the baby latched on after a few seconds. Olivia sighed in relief.

"Here," Daryl tucked a few pillows under Olivia's arms so she wouldn't get tired from holding her.

Olivia gave Daryl a searching look. "Where'd you learn all this? Do you have kids?"

"Me? Kids?" Daryl repeated shocked. "No. Merle dated this woman once with a baby. Said he liked her 'cause he knew she put out." Instantly Daryl wished he hadn't said that. But of course her forgot that it was Olivia he was talking to. She had always found his stories about Merle funny.

She started laughing, "That sounds exactly like your brother. Is he with you?" When Daryl turned his attention to the window, the smile faded from her face. "I'm sorry," she said softly.

Daryl pulled his gaze from the forest. "He might still be out there. We got separated in Atlanta. Got himself handcuffed to a pipe. When I got there I found that he had cut off his own hand." Olivia gasped. "Merle's a tough SOB though, he made it out of the building."

Olivia reached out and held on to Daryl's hand. She laid her head on his shoulder. If it was anyone else Daryl would have jumped up, but it wasn't, it was Livi. Being with her was as natural as breathing.

After she finished feeding the baby the rabbit was just about done. Olivia stood, "Are the bathrooms here working?"

Daryl shrugged. "Don't matter much, ain't like we're gonna stay. At least it's someplace to go."

Olivia raised her eyebrows then chuckled. "No, guess you're right. Still, goes against the grain." She headed off.

Two minutes later Daryl heard a shriek. When busted through the bathroom door, he expected to find it full of walkers. Instead Olivia was sitting on the toilet, hands gripping the side so hard her knuckles were turning white. "What the..?" Daryl said.

Her eyes popped open. "This is worse than the actual delivery, it hurts so much."

It took Daryl a moment to figure out what she was talking about. Of course she was going to be sensitive for a little while. Urine wasn't exactly nice on an open wound. "Hold on, I'll be right back." He bolted to where he had laid down his stuff. Returning to where she was, he held out his canteen. "Use some of this to... you know... dilute."

Reaching out, Olivia said, "You always did have a way with words Daryl."

"Shut up Livi. When ever you're done the rabbit will be ready." He turned and walked out of the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

Daryl watched her dig in to the rabbit. "Hungry?"

Olivia paused as she liked her fingers. "Can you tell? Once the contractions started yesterday, I stopped hunting and just looked for a place to hold up."

"Yesterday? Thought you said you found this place right before me."

"What did you think this place just magically appeared when I needed it? Spent the night in the woods not far from here, found this place this afternoon."

Daryl stared at her. Jesus, he couldn't image what she must have gone through looking for this place. There wasn't a lot of houses in the area, and the other ones he had seen had all been over run.

Olivia yawned, the stress of the last twenty four hours catching up to her. Daryl stood and disappeared into one of the bedrooms. When he came back out he was dragging a mattress. "Better to be out here. There's two doors." He dropped it on the floor and grabbed one of the sheets he had found. He spread it out over the top.

"Jeez Daryl, when did you get so domestic?" Olivia teased. She picked up the baby and settled herself down on the mattress.

Daryl tossed her a pillow. "Get some sleep Livi, we got a long walk tomorrow." He walked around the room and checked the doors again. When he turned back, she was already asleep, curled up next to the baby.


	3. Chapter 3

Daryl's eyes opened slowly. He couldn't believe something so small could have such an impact. The baby must have woken up every two hours all night long. "Why the hell would someone do this more than once?" he wondered a couple of times throughout the night.

"Sorry," Olivia said softly. "I was hoping she wouldn't wake you."

Daryl couldn't help thinking how exhausted she looked. For as much as the baby had woken him up, he had fallen back asleep fairly quickly after she started nursing. Livi hadn't had that freedom. Plus, she'd had it a bit harder than him yesterday.

"No matter, sun's gonna be up soon." Daryl could see that the sky was starting to change. He pushed himself up off the mattress and headed over to the fireplace. "Figure as soon as she's done, we can eat the rest of this rabbit and head back. Hopefully, it won't take us more than a few hours." He threw a small stick onto the hot coals he had just stirred up.

"Are you sure it's gonna be alright?" Olivia asked quietly. "It's just that people don't tend to like strangers these days."

His blue eyes stared into her green ones. "You're not a stranger LIvi. It'll be fine, I promise. These are good people for the most part." He looked down at the baby. "Think of something to name her yet?"

Olivia's eyes drifted down. "I was thinking maybe Penny. What do you think?"

Daryl guffed. "Well, she's got the hair for it." Olivia shot him a look. Smiling at her angry expression Daryl said, "I like it Livi. Think it suits her."

"Yeah?"

"Definitely. You never know, maybe she'll be a good luck charm."

Olivia smiled up at him. "Maybe she already is. After all, if it wasn't for her, I probably wouldn't have pushed myself to find this place. You would have come and gone by the time I got here."

Daryl looked at the baby in Livi's arms and smiled. "Well then, I guess I'm glad she chose yesterday to arrive."

* * *

As soon as breakfast was done, they collected the supplies Daryl had found around the house as well as Olivia's things. Daryl whistled when he saw her bow. "Is this a Hoyt?"

She looked up from where she was dressing the baby in one of the two outfits she'd had in her bag. "Yeah, the Grand Prix."

Daryl tested out the weight. "It's light. Got to be less than three pounds?" Olivia nodded. Daryl's eyes narrowed. "How good are you?"

Olivia laughed. "Good enough to spend a chunk of money on a bow, not good enough to do anything with it. Besides, that was years ago. I'm a bit rusty." She stood and moved over to grab her bag.

Daryl scooped it up before she could. "I got it. You just get the baby." Daryl swung the bag over his shoulder. It was a little cumbersome, but he didn't want her weighed down by anything if they had to move quickly.

The thought caused Daryl's eyebrows to draw together. Quickly he pulled the map out of his pocket. "Livi, come here." As soon as she was next to him, he pointed out where they were going. "If something happens, this is where we're heading. Talk to Rick, tell him that you know me, that I sent you there. He's a good man, he won't turn you away." Daryl hoped that he wasn't lying to her. Fact was, he had no idea how Rick was going to react, even with him there. Still, he couldn't see Rick kicking her out. He stuffed the map in her pocket. He passed her the bow and quiver of arrows, she'd need those if something happened. "Ready?"

Olivia swung the quiver over her head then took a breath and nodded. Daryl checked the windows then stepped out. She was moving slower than he would have liked, picking her way carefully through the woods. He couldn't blame her. She must have been sore from the delivery, and the last thing she'd want would be to trip while holding the baby. At least she was quiet enough he was able to hunt on the way. Some people made so much noise moving through the woods that they scared away all the game.

They ended up having to stop twice so she could feed the baby. While she feed Penny, Daryl couldn't help but feeling antsy. The woods weren't crawling with walkers, but it wasn't exactly safe either. It was a good thing she hadn't let him try to drag her back yesterday. They never would have made it back to the farm before she had the baby. He let out a sigh of relief when the farm finally came into view.

As they crossed the clearing, Daryl could see people hurrying over to them. Shane and Rick were the first to arrive, shock plainly written on both of their faces. "This is Olivia," he said as soon as they were close enough. "We grew up together." His voice was firm, allowing no argument. As Lori and Carol joined them, he pointed them all out to her. "Lori, do you mind taking her to see Hershel?" Lori looked over at Rick then nodded. Daryl passed Olivia her bag and watched her walk away.

As soon as they walked away, Shane burst out angrily, "What the hell Daryl? You're supposed to be out there looking for Sophia, not dragging back stragglers."

Daryl fixed his cold eyes on Shane. He didn't like him, and he sure as shit didn't trust him. "She's a friend," was all he said.

Rick was wearing a pained expression on his face. "Daryl, you know Hershel doesn't even want us here. He's not going to like you bringing back other people."

Daryl's jaw clenched tightly. "What the hell was I supposed to do? Leave her out there? She had a baby yesterday. I know her, I grew up with her." He stalked away, to head towards the house.

Carol hurried to keep pace next to him. "Did you see any sign of her?" she asked hopefully.

Daryl stopped to look at her. Her eyes were so optimistic. He sighed and shook his head. "Nah. I'll head back out tomorrow though. We're gonna find her Carol." He patted her on the shoulder awkwardly.

While he was waiting for Olivia to come out, he cleaned the squirrels he had caught on the way. It wasn't a lot, but it would do for tonight. In some ways, he hated being with the group. Food wise, he'd do much better on his own. However, there was safety in numbers. What Olivia had said about running away from the bear was true. You did just need to be faster than the other guy. After all, look at Otis and Shane.

He was starting to get nervous something was wrong when Lori finally came out of the house, carrying some clothes. He recognized one as the shirt Livi had been wearing. She walked over to him. "Hershel said you did a good job. He think's Olivia'll be fine and the baby looks great. She's just getting cleaned up and she'll be out." He couldn't help but notice Lori's speculative glance as she walked away.

Relieved, Daryl finished what he was doing and left to gather some firewood. He was almost done and was about to head back when Dale came through the trees. Daryl sighed. "Why can't these people just leave me alone?" he said to himself.

"So, you go out looking for Sophia, and instead bring back a woman and a newborn." Daryl grunted in response as he reached down for another branch. "Rick says you know her."

Daryl looked at Dale. "You got a point you're trying to make?"

Dale shrugged. "Just thought you should know Rick and Shane are talking to Hershel right now about what to do about the situation."

Daryl didn't like the sound of that. He tossed the firewood at Dale. "You couldn't have said that first?" he asked angrily. He moved quickly back towards the house.

He didn't see them right away, they were partly hidden by the porch. When he approached he could hear Hershel say, "It's not like she doesn't seem like a nice girl, but I told you this was temporary. I don't want people coming in here. She's not part of your group."

Rick was nodding thoughtfully. "I know. We were just as surprised as you when we found her. It's just that Daryl knows her. He wouldn't have just brought back a stranger."

"Where we even gonna put her?" Shane interjected.

"She can stay with me."

The three men swiveled around to face Daryl. By the looks on their faces he knew they hadn't seen him approach. Rick cleared his throat. "It's not just about the sleeping arrangements Daryl. It's another mouth to feed, and babies make noise. It's not a good move for the group."

Daryl very slowly and deliberately walked up to him. "Another mouth to feed? Who does most of the feeding here? I do. I say she stays, or I go with her."

Hershel broke in. "Look, I'm not saying that she's got to go now. I'm not about to toss a new mother and a newborn out. What I am saying is that I don't want other people being brought back here. And when you leave, she goes with you."

Rick turned to look at Hershel. He gave him a tight nod. "I understand."

Hershel looked over the three men standing in front of him. "Good, just so we're clear." He walked up the stairs and back into the house.

Shane's jaw clenched tightly. "This is bullshit. She's going to put the rest of us in danger. What if she had been with us out on the highway? If that baby had started to cry.. all of us could have been killed. You're putting Lori and Carl in danger for someone you don't even know!"

Rick glanced from Shane to Daryl. "I understand the dangers Shane. Fact is, I don't see a way around it."

Shane gnashed his teeth together. "She's your responsibility!" He spat at Daryl. He whipped the stick he had been tapping against his leg into the woods and stalked off.

Rick turned towards him. "She better be a good friend." He went back into the house to sit with his son. He passed Olivia without a word as she came out.

Looking at Livi standing there, holding Penny, Daryl said quietly, "The best."

* * *

At dinner Dale offered a spot in the camper when he found out that Olivia was planning on sharing a tent with Daryl. "You can take Amy's spot. It'll be tight, but that's nothing new."

Daryl couldn't help but notice Andrea's reaction to the offer. She pressed her lips tight and looked down at the fire. He knew she wanted to say something, but what could she say? Her sister was dead, and besides, it was Dale's camper.

Olivia's face showed surprise. She glanced at Daryl. "Oh, that's really nice of you. Penny gets up every few hours though. I'd hate to keep everyone awake all night long."

Dale waved off her protests. "I'm a deep sleeper. Won't bother me none."

Andrea threw down her fork. "You may be a deep sleeper but I'm not. If Daryl doesn't care, why don't we just leave it as it is?"

Olivia looked from Andrea to Daryl, indecision written all over her face. Daryl knew she didn't want to put anyone out. He spoke up. "I don't mind." That wasn't exactly true. He had no desire to be woken up by the baby every few hours, but at the same time, he'd probably sleep better knowing she was safe.

Olivia gave him a small smile. "I appreciate the offer Dale, but I'll be fine with Daryl."

There was an awkward silence, it was Lori that broke it. "How do you two know each other?"

Daryl and Olivia looked at each other. He shrugged. Let her tell them. "We grew up with each other," she started. "We met when I was twelve and he was.. fifteen?" Daryl nodded. "He was my closest neighbor. We got to be friends." She smiled over at him. "Was the strangest friendship I ever had. The last time we saw each other was the night before I headed off to college." She grinned at Daryl then stood up. "Here, will out take her? I have to use the bathroom." She thrust the baby at Daryl.

As she moved off, Daryl held the baby clumsily out in front of him. He barely heard Glenn's snicker as he tried to maneuver Penny into a better spot. When she was finally settled in the crook of his arm, he looked up to find half the group staring at him. "What?" he barked.

T-Dog raised his eyebrows. "Nothin' man. Just never thought I'd see you holding a baby. Or for that matter, that a woman would willingly give you a baby to hold," he teased.

"Shut up T," he snarled. But he couldn't help the corners of his lips from twitching. He looked down at the sleeping baby. She was awfully cute. Her mouth opened and she squiggled a little in his arms. He couldn't help but smile at her.

"Looks like you're a natural," Carol said next to him. She looked wistfully at the baby. Daryl would have bet anything she was thinking of Sophia. "Can't believe you delivered her."

Daryl let out a strangled laugh. "No shit. I was praying the entire time that a doctor would pick that moment to walk through the door." His stomach twisted even now as he thought of the fear he had felt.

"After all these years I'm amazed you two ran into each other, and here of all places. What are the odds?" Carol asked softly.

"Livi said that the baby was good luck, that if it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have both been there," Daryl said. When he glanced over, Carol was still looking at the baby sadly. "Here, why don't you hold her for a few minutes." When Carol hesitated Daryl added, "Livi won't mind."

After a moment's hesitation, Carol reached over and lifted the baby expertly out of his arms. She started to cooing as the movement woke Penny up a little. It was obvious she was enjoying holding the baby. She looked up, crestfallen, when Olivia stepped back into the firelight. "Oh, here," she started to move to pass Penny back.

Hearing the disappointment in Carol's voice, Olivia said, "Actually, you'd be doing me a favor if you held on to her for a little while. Who knew something so small could get so heavy." Carol beamed at Olivia before turning her attention back to the baby.

When Livi sat down next to him, he whispered in her ear. "That was nice of you." She simply smiled at him.

The two of them sat silently as they listened to others talk around the fire. It wasn't until Penny started to fuss that Olivia stood up. "I think I'm gonna just take her and head to bed. I'm pretty tired myself."

"Do you want me to walk you?" Daryl asked. Olivia shook her head. "Well here, take this flashlight." As he watched her walk away, for the first time Daryl wished he hadn't set his tent up so far from everyone else.

He stayed around the fire for as long as he could stand it. Usually he headed back to his tent right after dinner. From the looks the others gave him as he stood, his unusual behavior hadn't gone unnoticed. He approached the tent and was surprised to see the glow of the flashlight from inside. He thought for sure she'd have been asleep by now.

When he pushed back the flap she was sitting cross-legged, a book opened on her lap. Daryl couldn't help noticing she had helped herself to one of his shirts to sleep in. The memory of the last time she had done that flashed through his mind.

She looked up as he stepped in. "I can't believe you still have this," her voice was filled with wonder.

Glancing down Daryl saw it was his book. The same one she had given him so many years ago. "Yeah, well... it was a good book." Daryl said uncomfortably. "What were you doing going through my stuff anyways?"

Olivia ignored his tone and flashed him a smile. "I needed something to sleep in. I figured you wouldn't mind. Glenn said he's going to head to town tomorrow for some things, so I asked him to keep an eye out for clothes that might fit me. Hopefully he'll find some things that'll work. I'm going to need non-maternity wear pretty soon."

Daryl kicked off his boots and removed his weapons. As he laid them on the ground he noticed that there was only one pallet of blankets. "What'd you do with my sleeping bag?"

"Hmm?" Olivia looked up from the book. "Oh, it's under here. Maggie gave me all these blankets, so I figured might as well make one thick bed instead of two thinner ones."

Daryl was temporary struck mute. "Fine, whatever." He pulled of his shirt. As he moved to undo his pants, he realized he perhaps hadn't thought about sharing his tent all the way through. He looked over as Olivia closed the book and set it aside. She shifted the baby and laid back. He moved to get into the bed.

"Daryl! Take those pants off, you're gonna get dirt all in the bed." Olivia reprimanded him. When Daryl just gave her an uncomfortable look she started laughing. "Are you still going commando?" She turned on her side. "Don't worry, I won't look."

Daryl scowled at her back, which was still shaking with laughter. He reached down, grabbed the flashlight and turned it off. He quickly pulled off the dirty jeans and climbed under the blanket. He was going to have to ask Glenn to find him some underwear. That would be a first.

* * *

"Hmm," Daryl murmured. He pulled her in closer to him. As he nuzzled the back of her neck his eyes popped open. Quickly he rolled onto his back. "Jesus!" he thought. He had been curled around her, his arm around her waist. Daryl stared up the ceiling of the tent for a moment before reaching for a pair of pants. As he slipped them up over his hips he let his eyes roam over her. He couldn't believe that after all this time, Olivia Mitchell was laying in his bed.

Pushing those thoughts out of his mind, he unzipped the tent and stepped out into the morning air. Daryl liked this time of day best. There was no one around and the only sounds that could be heard were the animals moving around in their pens or paddocks.

He frowned as Shane pushed his tent flap open. There went his idea of grabbing a bite to eat. He'd wait until more people were up. The bigger the buffer between him and Shane, the better.

Lately Shane had been becoming a problem. After Otis had shot Lori and Rick's son Carl, Otis had brought the entire group to the farm for Hershel to treat him. Unfortunately, Hershel didn't have everything he needed to save him. So Otis and Shane had volunteered to go get the stuff. Shane said Otis covered him while he made a run for it. That was crap. Shane brought Otis's gun back with him. The only way that would have happened was if Shane shot Otis and left him there for the walkers to eat him. Everyone else was too blind to see it, but Shane was losing it.

Plus, Daryl was still pissed about how Shane reacted to Livi. So much for "to serve and protect". Guess Shane's days of working as a cop were over. He was more every man for himself lately. Except for when it came to Lori and Carl. Daryl wondered if Rick had figured out yet that his best friend had been sleeping with his old lady while he was gone.

Daryl walked over to the woodpile and started sorting out pieces he could whittle down for arrows. After a little while he heard more movement in the camp. He tossed down the pieces outside of his tent just as Olivia came out holding Penny. She was still wearing his shirt.

"Morning," she said. "Did you manage to get any sleep last night or did we keep you up? I couldn't quite tell." She passed him the baby then reached back in the tent to pull out the dirty clothes.

"Yeah, you get her so quickly that I was barely aware of it," he said as he gently cradled Penny more securely. "Doing laundry today?"

"Yeah, even if Glenn manages to find me some clothes, it'll be a while before I can fit into them. Besides, you don't do your laundry often enough. These clothes are filthy." Daryl could feel himself blush as her eyes took in the dirty clothes he had thrown on this morning.

"What's the point in putting on clean stuff when I'm just going to get it dirty again?" he said defiantly.

Olivia lifted her eyebrows. "Remind me sometime to explain the difference between clean and utterly disgusting." She started off towards the rest of the camp. "You coming?" she called back over her shoulder.

Daryl was tempted to just head off to go look for Sophia, but the wiggling in his arms reminded him he was still holding Penny. Reluctantly he headed down to the camp, trailing after Olivia.

As they grabbed some breakfast Rick and Shane walked over to Daryl. Rick pulled out the map. "Got to see what you covered and figure out where we should go today."

"This is where I found Livi. I came up this way." Daryl drew a line as he talked. "The terrain around this area over here is pretty rough. She would have stayed clear of that. I think we should shift down to here." Olivia came over and looked at the map while he was talking.

"I came through here," she pointed out. "There's swamps on either side. If she had come through there, I would have seen some sign of it. You can mark that off."

Shane sneered at her. "Think you'd be able to tell?"

Olivia jerked her head towards Daryl. "Ask him."

Daryl thought back to the days that they had spent together in the woods growing up. "She's no tracker, but she'd be able to tell if someone had gone through recently, especially if the ground was damp. Mark it off."

Rick looked over at Olivia then marked off the section of the map she had pointed out. "Well that still leaves a lot of area to cover. Shane? Why don't you head down to this section. Daryl you take the north."

Daryl looked over to where Carol was sitting despondently. "I'll take one of the horses. I can get more done."

"Sounds good. I'll check with T-Dog and see if he can do a couple of hours too." Rick folded up the map. He and Shane moved off.

Daryl looked over at Olivia. "I'll see you later, alright?" He shoveled down the last of his meal.

She gave him a small smile. "Take care of yourself out there." She leaned in and gave him a quick hug.

Daryl pulled himself away from her. It made him uncomfortable to have her touch him in front of everyone. He turned on his heel and headed towards the barn. If he had looked back, he would have seen Olivia staring after him disconcertedly.

* * *

**As always, I appreciate reviews. I love hearing what you guys think about everything. **


	4. Chapter 4

She watched him ride off on the bay mare. He was so different from what she remembered, and yet so the same. He still couldn't tolerate displays of affection. Even when they were kids, he'd get so uncomfortable if he thought she was trying to comfort him in some way. Funny thing was, if he was comforting her, he was the exact opposite.

The night her mother died, he had stroked her hair, rubbed her back, pressed kisses to her forehead and hadn't thought twice about it. For months she had laid in bed and thought about that night. Wondering what would have happened if she had just touched her lips to his as she had wanted to.

When her father told her he had sold the house and had already moved, she cried for a week. Over Christmas break she actually drove down, just to see him one more time. But what good would it do? He had never thought about her as more than a friend. She had turned around just before she got there and headed back to her father's new house.

She had gone back to school in January and joined the archery competition team because it reminded her of him. When she was shooting, she could almost hear him whispering in her ear, feel his cheek press to hers as he corrected her stance or aim.

Finding him again was a miracle. She hadn't even been living in the state at the time. She had gone to New Orleans for a friend's wedding and decided to stay a couple of extra days to visit with some other friends. Then there were these stories on the news of some weird virus and the riots that were starting to break out all over. She hurried to make plans to get home and luckily managed to get on the very last flight back to Charleston. When things went from bad to worse a few days later, she decided to head down to Atlanta to be with her brother. She had almost gotten there when the planes flew over and bombed the city. She watched as the night sky had become bright from the flames and the percussion of the bombs swept through her body.

She ended up joining a small group of people that had been at the same service station she was. They set up camp a few miles away from Atlanta, but those things had been everywhere. The group kept moving further and further out into the country, until that last night when the camp had gotten overrun.

When she heard Daryl's voice the other day, she thought she was imagining it. But no, it was him, she knew it the moment she saw those eyes. Only Daryl could have eyes that were so warm, and that could go to steel in a second. Anything could cause it, if she pressed to close to a subject that he didn't want to talk about, if he thought someone was making fun of him in some way, if he ever thought that she was giving him pity.

That first day that they met, those eyes had been steel, he had looked at her so defiantly. Of course she had known what had happened to him. It wasn't the first time she had seen him around sporting a cut lip or a bruised cheek. Daryl was in a cast more often than even the most clumsy kid, but instinctively she knew he'd hate it if she said that. And she had so wanted to meet him after all those years.

The day her father had pointed Daryl and his father out to her, (actually he had pointed them out to her mother, but she had been in the back seat), he had looked so cute with his hair falling in his eyes as he helped his father load up the back of the pickup truck. She was probably only seven or eight then, but anytime she thought of the prince that she would spend the rest of her life with, he had come to mind. As she got older, the daydreams changed, but the man in them was always Daryl. It seems she had spent half her life being in love with Daryl Dixon in one way or another.

She had dated in high school and college, but they never really measured up. She found that she always compared them to Daryl. It wasn't until she turned twenty five that she realized that even if she had stayed in that tiny little town, if her father had never moved, they still would never had been able to be together, her father would never have allowed it. If she and Daryl had gotten together, if she had crossed her father, he would have made sure Daryl wouldn't have been able to find work in the area. She had been holding out for a fantasy that could never happen.

So she let go of that dream and married someone the exact opposite, someone her father had approved of. She had to laugh, look how well that turned out. "But" she thought to herself as she looked down at Penny, "I got something great out of it." Setting aside the thoughts of Daryl, she headed over to get started on the laundry.

She asked Carol to watch the baby while she got to work. Daryl's clothes must've had about an inch of dirt on them. She soaked them in three different hot water baths to get the majority of the grime off of them. Each time she dumped the water, it was black from all the dirt. It was hard work pulling the water from the well and hauling it over to the fire pit to heat up. Finally she figured she had loosened up all the dirt she was going to and got to scrubbing.

Carol's voice calling her name surprised her and she let out a squeak as she whipped around. "Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you. It's just that I think Penny's looking for some food." She shifted her attention to the little bundle in her arms. "Yes. You're hungry aren't you?" she cooed to the baby.

Olivia laughed as she covered her racing heart with her hand. "Well apparently I'm still a little jumpy from being on my own." Olivia wiped her hands against her jeans and reached out for the baby. "Guess I lost track of time there. I appreciate you watching her."

"It's no problem. I love babies. I always wanted more, but it just didn't happen." Carol said sadly.

Olivia settled down on an old tree stump to nurse. "What's your little girl like?" she paused for a moment. "Or do you not want to talk about it?"

Carol sat down on the grass across from her. "No. It'll be nice to talk about her in a way that doesn't have to do with her missing. She's a quiet little girl. Sometimes too quiet. She's never had it easy. My husband was... well I'll just say he had a temper. She shouldn't have had to go through that," Carol was quiet for a moment then she said something so quiet Olivia almost missed it. "And now I've failed her again." Carol started weeping quietly.

Olivia reached out with her free hand. "You haven't failed her. You're still looking for her. Just have faith. You'll find her, and she'll be back with you before you know it." She gave Carol's hand a squeeze.

Carol wiped the tears away from her eyes. She gazed out over the vast land surrounding them. "I hope so. She'd love this place, all the animals. She had just started taking horseback riding lessons when all this started. I hadn't told Ed because I knew he'd complain about it, that it was too expensive. But it was what she wanted, the only thing she asked for as a birthday gift. I couldn't tell her no."

"Sounds like you're a really good mom Carol. I think Sophia is lucky to have you." Olivia said warmly. "You never know, maybe when she gets back, Hershel will let her ride one of his horses."

Carol's lips twitched. "She'd like that a lot. Think he would?" Her eyes darted over towards the house, and expression of hope on her face.

Olivia shrugged. "Maybe, I only meet him the once. Seems like a good guy. She'll certainly deserve a treat when she gets back." Carol smiled back at her gratefully.

* * *

Olivia sighed with relief as she was hanging the last of the laundry out. Placing her hands on the small of her back she closed her eyes and leaned back, stretching her muscles. When shouts of alarm rang out the noise startled her, causing her to jump for the second time today, the farm was always so quiet. As she looked around, she saw Rick and Shane running across the field, T-Dog right behind them. Stepping out from behind the sheet so she could see better, she gasped as she realized that there was a figure stumbling out of the woods and it was coming towards the house. "It must be one of the dead," She thought to herself. It seemed wrong that there was one of those things so close to here. Daryl had said that Hershel hadn't had any problems with walkers because of the swamps that surrounded the farm.

Then something strange happened, Rick and Shane stopped in their tracks, and Olivia watched as Rick lower his gun. She stood there confused, why would he do that? Unless it wasn't a walker, but everyone was here except for Daryl. Just as the realization that it must be him coming back, (but where was his horse?), the crack of a rifle filled the air. She felt her eyes go wide with horror as Daryl's head jerked back.

The sound of panic shouts floated on the air and drifted back to her. She stood as if rooted to the ground. It wasn't until she saw them hoist Daryl up between them and start back to the house that she was able to move. Olivia took off running, the scenery a blur in the corner of her eye. Just as she was about to reach them, she heard Andrea.

"Oh my God, I shot Daryl?" her voice was filled with disbelief. She was staring at Daryl's limp form hanging between Rick and Shane.

"What fool let you have a gun?" Olivia shouted at her, as she gently lifted Daryl's head off his chest. She couldn't believe the state he was in. He was filthy and there were smears of blood everywhere. The side of his shirt though, well, it had more than just a smear. It was soaked through with blood.

"It's just a graze," Rick assured her as he brushed her out of the way. "He's got other injuries though, we got to get him to Hershel."

Olivia felt as though she couldn't breathe. This couldn't be happening. Daryl had always seemed so indestructible to her. "What other injuries?" She questioned as she followed them up to the house. The adrenaline was starting to wear off and she could feel the impact that the sprint down to the fields had on her body.

"Don't know yet," Shane said curtly. "Ain't like we got x-ray glasses." She trailed behind them as they dragged his limp body back up towards the house. Andrea walked up behind them, sniffling. It took all of Olivia's will power not to turn around and pounce on the crying blonde.

Olivia watched as they laid him on the bed and Hershel began examining him. She sat down in the chair in the corner and tried not to get in anyone's way. She gasped in shock and horror when they removed his shirt and she saw the puncture wound that went straight through his side. As Hershel began cleaning the cut on Daryl's hairline his eyes flickered open. As Daryl's eyes met Olivia's, she knew that she had made a mistake in coming in the room. "This ain't no peep show! Get the fuck out!" he shouted. She sucked in her breath as she pushed her self up out of the chair. She kept her back straight and her head high as she marched from the room, shutting the door behind her.

She leaned back against the door and closed her eyes. Her emotions battled within her. She was humiliated that Daryl had yelled at her, but so relieved that he was alright at the same time. There was something else there though, anger at Andrea. Her eyes narrowed and she stalked through the house looking for her. Not finding her inside, she pushed open the screen door and there she was sitting on the front steps.

Olivia could tell Andrea was upset, but it didn't matter. "What the hell is wrong with you, shooting Daryl?" she demanded. "You could have killed him!"

Andrea swiveled around. "I didn't know it was him, I couldn't see with the glare of the sun." Her voice was defensive.

That in itself pissed Olivia off. She probably would have calmed down if Andrea had sounded apologetic, but she hadn't. Not in the least. "So you're not even going to find out who you're shooting at? You're just going to shoot anyone that comes out of the woods? Even when you know that one of your own is out there looking for Sophia?" she snarled. "You're just so God damn gun happy that you don't care who you hurt as long as you get to take them down? Is that it?" Without waiting for an answer Olivia stomped down the steps to go find Carol and Penny.

She saw them over by the main group of tents, but she paused before going over. She couldn't go there just yet, she was just still so angry. She veered off to the right, and headed to Daryl's tent. Pushing the flap back she threw herself down on the pallet of blankets. Her body ached from running through the field and her heart was pounding out of her chest. She gave herself five minutes to let the anger and sadness course through her.

Just as she was pulling herself back together, the tent flap was pushed aside. Turning over quickly she was surprised to see Shane ducking into the tent. Her eyes widened in surprised.

Shane chuckled at her obvious astonishment. "Thought I'd come see if you were planning on doing anything about that anger you got brewing," he said. "Not like I understand your feelings about the subject, but since you and Daryl are friends..." His eyes roamed over her, reading her reactions.

Olivia stared right back at him. He was tall, and solidly built, his frame filled the entire doorway of the tent. His hair was short, in a military buzz cut. Everything about his presence made her feel ill at ease, and his body language didn't reassure her in the least.

She pushed herself up into a sitting position. As she thought about what could have happened to Daryl, her teeth clenched together. Still, he wouldn't appreciate her getting involved in this, she had already done too much. "Figure everything that's done is done." Her voice was adamant. "Now if you excuse me, I have to go get Penny."

Brushing past Shane, she exited the tent. His voice called out behind her, "Look here. I gotta know if you're gonna hold a grudge about this." His footsteps hurried to catch up with her.

She spun around. "Why? To give you one more reason to get rid of me? My parents didn't raise an idiot. You've wanted me gone since the moment Daryl brought me back." She couldn't help the sneer that spread across her face.

Surprisingly Shane laughed. "Girl, if I really wanted you gone, you'd be gone." He stepped closer till she could feel the heat from his body. "Fact is, you're somewhat amusing and just might come in handy." As Olivia narrowed her eyes trying to decipher his meaning, he stepped around her and headed over to where Lori was organizing supplies.

Olivia stared after him, her body tense. There was something about Shane. She didn't know if he was trustworthy or not. It wasn't a crime to not want to take on the responsibility of having a newborn baby in the group, but Olivia didn't think that was the whole story. As Shane's figure got smaller and smaller she sighed and walked slowly back to where Penny was.

As soon as dinner was cooked, she walked into the room where Daryl was. Even as he opened up his mouth to speak she placed Penny on the bed next to him and walked back out. When she pushed open the door the next time, she was holding dinner plates. She pressed her lips together to smoother the smile as she caught Daryl tickling Penny's belly and grinning down at her.

As soon as he saw her, his smile vanished. "Can't just be leaving your rug rat with me any time you want." His tone was curt.

She set down one of the plates on the bedside table,"Couldn't carry her and dinner." she said matter of factly. She had learned a long time ago how to ignore Daryl's moods. Leaving Penny where she was, Olivia sat down in one of the chairs and started eating her meal.

Daryl couldn't quite suppress the groan that escaped his lips as he sat up. Olivia's lips turned white as she took in the line of stitches along his side. It would leave another scar on his already heavily marked body. Pulling her gaze away from the wound, she started cutting up the chicken on her plate. As she popped the first bite of food in her mouth she glanced up to find Daryl staring at her. "What?"

His eyes flicked away from hers for a moment. "Shouldn't have yelled at you like that," he said quietly, clearly uncomfortable.

Olivia knew that would be as close to an apology as she was going to get. "Hasn't been so long that I don't remember how you are. Never did like it when I found you cleaning yourself up." She scooped up some of the potatoes and continued eating.

Daryl looked as though he wanted to say something else, but Penny chose that moment to begin fussing. Even as Olivia moved to set aside her plate, Daryl gently picked the baby up and began bouncing her rhythmically. Daryl was such a complex man. He couldn't even apologize properly, but there he was, being so gentle with her daughter. It tore at Olivia's heart.

As Penny settled down, Daryl set her on the bed next to him and picked up his diner plate, Olivia smiled lightly at him, and they ate together in silence. When they were just about finished, a soft knock sounded on the door. They both looked over to see Carol peak in, "Just wanted to see how you're doing," she said quietly.

Olivia could tell Carol had something to say to Daryl so she stood up. "Was just about to bring these to the kitchen anyways." Grabbing Daryl's plate, she sneaked past Carol and went out to the kitchen.

Five minutes later she was drying dishes and heard the door to the bedroom close. Looking over she saw Carol wipe tears from her eyes as she headed outside. Olivia looked back down at the plate in her hand. Olivia knew there was something there. What, she couldn't quite figure out. Carol and Daryl were so similar in so many ways. Maybe that was all it was, a certain kind of understanding.

Just as the dishes were just about done, the sound of Penny fussing drifted out from the bedroom. As she looked over at the other women, Lori spoke up. "Go. We'll put all this away."

Smiling in gratitude, she hurried for the bedroom. "Thought I had a little more time before she got hungry again," Olivia said as she pushed open the door. At the expression on Daryl's face she asked softly, "Everything okay?"

Daryl looked ill at ease. His gaze was fixed on Penny as he whispered, "Do you think I'm a good man?"

"What?" Olivia asked shocked.

"Carol, she said I was a good man." He kept his eyes averted, clearly uncomfortable with the conversation.

Olivia sat down gently on the edge of the bed and taking one of his hands in hers, she answered him. "Daryl, the other day, there was no one else I would've rather walk through that door. I trust you explicitly. You have your fair share of faults, but you have qualities that make you a very good man. Sometimes it's just harder to see with you. When you do good things, you do them quietly, so no one will see, and without asking for gratitude."

Penny's crying got louder and more insistent. Olivia bend down and kissed Daryl's cheek lightly. As she lifted Penny off the bed she said, "Besides, I wouldn't leave my little girl with someone that I didn't think was worthy."

As she stood to leave, his voice stopped her. "Where you going?"

"Figured I'd just head to bed. Feed her and get some sleep. You get some sleep too, I'll see you in the morning." She shut the door behind her. After saying goodnight to everyone, she headed across the field.

As soon as Penny was fed, she put on one of Daryl's button down shirts and climbed under the covers. The small tent seemed awfully lonely.


	5. Chapter 5

Daryl tossed and turned in bed. He kept thinking of Olivia out there in the tent with Penny. Why did he have to set his tent up so far away from everyone? If something happened... Sighing, he pushed himself into a sitting position and swung his legs off the bed.

The walk to the tent seemed to take forever, he finally reached it and unzipped the flap. When he ducked in, the full moon shone over his shoulder, it shed enough light into the tent for him to see her. Her face was relaxed in sleep and Penny was tucked up next to her. It was apparent that they had both fallen asleep nursing.

Daryl felt a tightening in his belly as his took in the full shape of Olivia's breast, and the coral color of her nipple. His gaze travelled over her, and he marveled in the pure beauty of her. How many times had he thought about her this way? It had to be too many to count.

Olivia shifted in her sleep, causing Daryl to pull his gaze away from her. He didn't want her to wake up and see him ogling her. As quick as he could, he pulled off his clothes and walking around the pallet, climbed into bed next to her. The stitches Hershel had put into his side where the arrow had pierced through pulled painfully as he sank down.

He tried to be as quiet as he could be, but he must have woken her at least somewhat, because as he laid his head on the pillow, she rolled over in her sleep. Her hand rested on his stomach and he sucked in a breath as her leg hooked itself around one of his. Even as he laid there trying to get his heart rate under control she shifted again, closer this time, and laid her head on his chest.

It reminded him of that night so long ago, the way she had curled up next to him, as if she hadn't been the daughter of one of the most influential men in town and he wasn't the son of the town drunk. When it was just them, alone, the differences between them never seemed to matter much. In fact, it seemed to make their friendship better. But others would never have understood.

Somethings didn't change, Daryl knew the others in the group didn't really get their friendship either. For the most part they had welcomed Livi with open arms. She fit in with them, more than he ever did. Only Shane and Andrea seemed openly hostile to her. Rick wasn't exactly over brimming with joy, but Daryl knew that came from concern about what might happen in the future, the challenges a baby would bring.

Daryl's eyebrows drew together as he thought about it. Hershel seemed pretty set on sending them on their way as soon as Carl was better and Sophia was found. If he did kick them off the farm... Well, it would be too dangerous for Livi and Penny. Penny was a good baby, but still, she cried at regular intervals and as she got bigger the noise would only get louder. Rick was talking to Hershel though, he'd figure out some way to convince him to let the group stay.

Daryl continued to muse over the problem, but the day had been hard on him, and the warmth from Livi's body was soothing. His eyes closed of their own volition and he fell asleep.

* * *

He woke before her and dressed quickly. He knew she was aware he had spent the night there, but he didn't feel like talking about it. She'd want to know why he hadn't stayed put in the house. What was he supposed to tell her? That he had been worried about her out here all alone? That he hadn't been able to sleep because he was thinking about her so much?

He knew that it wasn't fair of him, to hold her at arm's length about some things when she told him everything. Whenever she ever tried to keep a secret, he'd keep at her till he'd pried it out of her. Still, there were some things that Daryl didn't like to discuss, and his feelings were one of them.

As he started down to get something to eat, he looked over at Carol's tent. Yesterday he had found Sophia's doll, it had been laying in the shallow creek off to the east. It was the first real sign of her they'd had since she went missing.

Daryl didn't know why, but finding her meant something to him. It wasn't just that she was a sweet kid, that Carol was a friend. Daryl had a feeling that if maybe they could find her, that things would get better somehow. And if they didn't...

He grabbed some leftovers from last night and headed to the barn. That stupid horse that threw him still wasn't back yet. It was probably best, Daryl was still pissed about the whole thing. He passed by a couple of high spirited horses till he found one that was a little more sedate. He'd die before he admitted it, but he didn't think that he could take it if he got thrown twice in two days. Not just his body but his pride too.

He was searching through the tack to find the horse's bridle when Carol walked in. "What are you doing?" she asked gently. "You can't go out."

Daryl barely spared her a glance over his shoulder. "I'm fine. Got a trail now."

Carol sucked in a ragged breath. "Daryl, you barely got back alive yesterday. You need to rest." When he didn't stop what he was doing she continued. "We don't know if we're gonna find her. I don't know if we're gonna find her." The last part came out as a whisper.

Daryl stood there frozen. He couldn't believe she just said that. Slowly he turned around and stared at her, eyes narrowed into slits. Carol tried to meet his gaze but after a few seconds she looked away.

Daryl felt the anger boil up in him, he knocked the saddle off the stand and onto the floor. "Stupid bitch!" he spat at her. As he turned to march through the door, he stopped short as he saw Livi standing there. Her green eyes were filled with disapproval. He sneered at her as pushed past her.

Damn, he hated it when she looked at him like that. There had only been a handful of times in all the years they had known each other that she had looked at him with such disappointment. The last time was when he had dropped out of school. Still, what did she know? She had never meet Sophia.

When he reached the middle of the camp he paused. He realized he had no idea where he was going. Daryl wasn't used to being idle, even before all this he was always doing something. Either working, hunting, or fixing something around the house. Since getting stranded on the road to Atlanta it seemed as there was always more work then there was time in the day. Trouble was, the work he was used to doing was outside of the camp.

His eyes scanned around till they landed on Dale's RV. Dale might sit on top of his moral high horse a lot, but he wasn't a bad guy, maybe he had something Daryl could do. Daryl stomped over and pulled open the screen door. Glenn just about fell out on top of him. "Jesus! Watch where you're going," Daryl snapped.

"Sorry man," Glenn said. "Guess I didn't see you there."

"Seems to be a lot of that going around," Daryl muttered. As Glenn skirted around him and started to move off towards the house, Daryl called after him. "Wait! Are you heading into town?"

"Yeah, was just about to get Maggie. Hershel asked us to go look for some more antibiotics. With everyone getting hurt we don't have much left."

"While you're down there, think you can look for something for me?" Daryl asked. "See if you can find me some underwear." He shuffled back and forth uncomfortably.

Surprise flittered across Glenn's face. "Oh.. okay, sure. What kind you want?" When Daryl just looked at him blankly, Glenn hurried on to say, "Why don't I just see what they have and bring some back."

Daryl nodded tensely. He didn't like asking for favors, and while he didn't really have any hang up about underwear in general, it just was weird asking another guy to go get some for you.

As Daryl watched Glenn move off towards the house, Dale's voice broke into his thoughts. "What brings you out here?"

Daryl looked around and not seeing Dale, lifted his eyes up to the roof of the RV. Sure enough there he was, looking down at Daryl with that stupid fishing hat on his head. Suddenly Daryl realized he didn't really know why he was here, so he said the first thing that came to his mind. "Thought I'd see if I could borrow a book."

"Sure Daryl. Take whatever you want," Dale said surprised.

"Jesus, shocking the piss out of everyone today," Daryl thought to himself as he stepped into the messy old trailer. He scanned around and saw the stack of paperback books by the table. He ran his fingers down the spines, reading the titles as he went. Nothing looked particularly good, but finally he chose one and pulled it free from the stack. He was reading the summary on the back when he heard the door slam shut.

"What the hell was that Daryl?" Olivia's voice demanded. "How could you be so insensitive?"

Daryl's jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed as her questions reminded him of the scene down at the barn with Carol. Slowly he turned around to face her. "Mind your own business," he snarled at her. "This has got nothing to do with you." He was frustrated by the entire situation and was looking for someone to take it out on.

Olivia crossed her arms in front of her. "Carol's been nothing but nice to me and someone's got to tell you that your behavior was completely out of line."

"I'm out of line?" he shouted at her. "We finally have some where to look and no one seems to give a shit!" Suddenly the RV was too small, too tight, he had to get out of there. He moved to push past her but she held her ground and blocked the doorway.

"You owe her an apology. She was just looking out for you." Olivia's finger poked him in the chest.

He knocked her hand away. "I don't need someone looking out for me. I manage just fine on my own." He could feel the walls closing in on him, as the frustration and the anger over not having found Sophia yet came to the surface.

Olivia's eyes narrowed, "What is your problem?" She looked so pissed.

"Stupid woman is giving up on her own kid." Daryl was getting desperate to leave, he really couldn't be in the RV any longer. He tried to move past her, but she blocked him again.

"Every day that goes by Carol knows that the odds of finding Sophia get less and less. She's trying to protect herself from what she thinks is probably inevitable. You can't imagine what it's like to think that you'll never see your kid again, to not know if they're alive."

He knew she was right but the anger was too much, it overrode all his common sense. "What? You're a mom for two days and you think you know everything? What could you know? Your own mother killed herself to get away from you!" He yelled harshly.

Daryl watched as Livi's face went from flushed to deathly pale in an instant. Even as he opened his mouth to try to take it back, she turned and fled from the RV. "Fuck!" Daryl threw the book that was still in his hand across the room. It managed to knock over the stack of dirty dishes, and they scattered across the counter and floor. Daryl was pissed at himself, he had just hit an all time low and he knew it.

Unable to stay in the confines of the RV a moment longer he shoved the door open and strode off. He just kept walking till he hit the edge of the fields, he leaned against one of the wooden fence posts. He stared at, but didn't see, the cows in the paddock in front of him, his mind was swirling around what had just happened. How could he have said that to her?

It was just that everyone seemed to be giving up on Sophia. Shane thought it was a waste of time and told that to everyone he could, Rick was becoming more and more preoccupied with other things, and now Carol was even giving up. You shouldn't ever give up on your own kid. Kids shouldn't be left to fend for themselves, not like he was.

Uncomfortable with the turn his thoughts had taken, Daryl tried to think of something else, but Livi's face just kept flashing through his mind. The way her eyes had widened and how she had sucked in a sharp breath. As she had turned away Daryl had seen that there were tears welling in her eyes. He felt like such an asshole causing her pain like that.

He had no idea how long he stood there trying to think of something to say to her. Something that would let him take back that awful thing he said. He hadn't meant it. Somehow he had a knack for figuring out what would hurt people the most, when he got angry he didn't think, and just said it. He hated it, and whenever he did it, he always thought about his old man, how he had the same talent.

Finally he pushed himself away from the fence and headed back, he'd just have to say the truth, that he was sorry. As he got closer to the camp he looked for her, but she wasn't anywhere he could see. Daryl headed for his tent, hoping that maybe she'd be laying down for a nap. If she was, when she got up, he'd be able to apologize in private.

He pushed back the flap to see his sleeping bag laying on the ground by itself. His clothes were folded neatly in the corner next to his bag. Nothing of hers was in the tent. Daryl felt as though he had just gotten sucker punched, she had moved all her things out. He pivoted on his heel and hurried down towards the rest of the camp.

When he got closer he saw that there was a new tent set up on the outskirts. Daryl's jaw snapped together hard enough to send his teeth rattling. Lori glanced up as he stormed passed, curiosity was etched all over her face.

He threw back the flap of the new tent only to find it empty. He swirled back around, "Where is she?" he demanded of Lori.

She didn't say anything as she looked him up and down. Daryl knew how he must look, he was wound up tighter than a drum. Forcing himself to relax he stared at her and waited for an answer. Finally she spoke, "She's around back, helping Patricia in the garden."

He hurried around the corner of the house and saw her there. Her back was towards him and he watched as she pulled a few cucumbers off the vine. Patricia was facing him, and she moved around the plants to touch Livi lightly on the arm. The older woman murmured something in Livi's ear, and after picking up one of the baskets, headed inside.

When Livi didn't even look his way, Daryl knew he was in deep shit. She never kept grudges, and was usually the one to come find him after a fight. Of course he had never said or done anything quite like this before.

He walked slowly over to her. "I'm sorry Livi," he said quietly as he shoved his hands deep in his pockets. "I shouldn't have said that."

He heard her breathe in deeply before she faced him. For the first time ever, he had no idea what she was thinking, her expression gave nothing away. "But you did say it," she said flatly. She stood there as if she was a statue, her eyes boring to his.

Daryl took a hesitant step towards her. "I didn't mean it Livi. I don't think that, I never thought that."

Creases appeared in her forehead as her eyebrows drew together. "Do you think that makes it alright? It doesn't. The fact that you said something for the sole purpose of hurting me? That might even be worse."

Daryl had no idea what to say, he just stood there shuffling his feet.

She let out a disgusted sound. "You're not the same person you were Daryl. The boy you were, he could never have been so cruel." She turned her attention back to the plants in front of her.

"Livi, please," he reached out and touched her arm.

She spun around so fast it startled him. "I appreciate everything you did for me Daryl, but I think it's best if we just keep our distance from each other for the time being." Her voice was overly formal as she spoke to him. "Hershel has loaned me a tent and Penny and I will be fine in that."

The tone of her voice shocked him into stillness. He was still there when she grabbed her basket and headed into the house.

* * *

Well if he couldn't fix things with Livi, he should at least do it with Carol. Jesus, he hated apologizing. Why couldn't women be more like men? Men got over shit like this without one of them having to say sorry.

He could see Carol through one of the windows of the trailer. He had just started over towards the RV, when a breeze blew and he saw a white flower sway gracefully at the corner of the woods. "I'll be damned," he muttered to himself. Daryl hurried over to pick the lone flower, and lifted it up to examine it closely. "If this isn't just the damnedest thing," he thought to himself, nothing could have been more fitting.

Holding the rose gently, he stepped into the trailer. The place was clean. Really clean. All the dirty dishes that he had knocked over earlier had been picked up and washed. It was obvious the place had been swept out and all the surfaces scrubbed.

Daryl picked up a small juice glass and filled it with water. Placing the rose in it, he headed to the back. As he paused in the doorway, Carol looked up from the mending in her hands. "Thought I stepped into the wrong place for a moment," he said softly.

Carol gave a half shrug and looked back down at what she was doing. "Wanted it to be nice for her when she came back."

Daryl gave a slight nod. "Carol, about earlier," he began.

Carol cut him off. "I know you just want to find her. I do too. It's just that if anything happened to you, if you didn't come back and neither did she.." Carol took a shaky breath. "I can't lose you too."

Daryl felt ashamed of his earlier behavior. Damn if Olivia wasn't right more often than not. He looked down remembering the flower and placed it on the top of one of the built in dressers.

Carol looked up when she heard the clink of the glass on the laminate surface. "A flower?" she asked confused.

Daryl nodded. "Not just any flower, it's a Cherokee Rose." He told her of how the flowers bloomed along the Trail of Tears to uplift the grieving mothers' spirits for all the children that they had lost along the way. "I think maybe this one bloomed for you and your little girl."

Carol brushed away the tears that had started running down her face. "Where'd you learn that story? It's beautiful."

Clearing his throat, Daryl told her, "Livi gave me a book when we were kids, it was all about the Cherokee Indians. I must have read that thing a hundred times over the years." His fingers reached out and played with the glass that was holding the flower.

Carol's voice was gentle as she said, "Must have made you think of her when you read it."

Daryl looked up to see her smiling at him, a thoughtful expression on her face. Embarrassed, Daryl nodded and returned her smile tightly before he turned and walked out of the RV.

"Glad that went better than earlier," he heard from above.

Damn, he had forgotten about Dale and the fact that he'd had a front row seat to his blow out with Livi earlier. "Why don't you mind your own business old man?" he snarled. He hated other people knowing his shit.

"Just saying that getting too many women mad at you at once is never a good thing," Dale offered. "They have ways of making you want to beg for mercy." Dale chuckled to himself.

"Think you're spending too much time out in the sun," Daryl shot back. He moved off to work on making some new bolts for his crossbow.

* * *

By dinner time, Daryl thought that she would have started to soften by now, but Olivia wouldn't even look at him. When she needed help with Penny, she asked anyone other than him. He saw almost all the women holding her at one point or another, and even Glenn, T-Dog, and Rick had a turn with her.

Daryl was stumped, he had no idea where to even begin to make it up to her. He sat next to Carol at dinner and pushed his food around on his plate. Carol looked back and forth between him and Livi, confusion etched onto her features. "Anything you want to talk about?" she asked softly.

Daryl shook his head. What would he say? That he had been an asshole to Olivia when she came to him to stick up for Carol? That he had said something awful when she came to tell him that he should apologize?

Carol laid her hand on his arm. "I'm sure whatever happened between you two will work itself out," she said, her voice laced with sympathy. "Maybe she just needs some time."

"Maybe," he said gruffly. He pushed himself up and dumped his plate. He couldn't sit there and watch her all night, it was driving him crazy thinking about it. He stomped off to his tent and pulled his clothes off, tossing them on top of the bag holding the various underwear Glenn had brought back for him. Laying down naked, he stared at the ceiling for hours, unable to get the look on Livi's face out of his mind.


	6. Chapter 6

**So thanks to everyone who is taking the time to read this story. I have to admit, I'm having some trouble with it, I keep getting distracted by this insane desire to write a sequel to my other story, Winter's End. However, I feel as though the pace has started to pick up here, that I'm getting more into my comfort zone.**

**On another note, I wanted to say that this story was added to the community The Best of Daryl Dixon, which is run by EonOfFortress. So thank you very much, I appreciate that. If anyone is looking for a story to read between my posts, maybe you'll find one there. **

**Before we start just one last reminder to review, review, review!**

* * *

Olivia let out a sigh of relief when he left during diner. It was so hard being mad at him, ignoring him, but she wasn't ready yet to let it go. He was the only one who had known what her father had said to her. Sure, maybe he didn't know that she still felt responsible for what had happened with her mom, but even still... he had gone too far.

She had put up with it in her marriage, had let her husband make her feel guilty about things, say things that were hurtful, and she wasn't going to do that again. It had started so slowly she hadn't even noticed it happening. But too soon, all their friends had been his friends, their lives revolving around what he wanted. She had even quit her job, because he wanted her to.

What she had told Daryl was true, about how he left, but she had left out a lot as well. She hadn't told him that Frank had said she was about as exciting as a blow up doll in bed, that trying to have a conversation with her was worse than a root canal, that the only reason that he had married her was that her father had connections that would help out his career.

She wasn't about to let anyone talk to her like that ever again, not even Daryl Dixon.

* * *

The next morning she was knitting a blanket for Penny with some yarn Patricia had given her. Patricia reminded her of her own mom when she was little, before life had gotten the better of her.

When T-Dog, Lori and Carol walked by she called out. "Where are ya'll going?"

"Gonna go back to the highway and check where we lost Sophia, see if she went back there," T-Dog answered.

"Mind if I come?" she asked hesitantly. She didn't know why she wanted to go, but Olivia felt the overwhelming need to get away from the farm. She refused to think that it was because of _him._

Carol stepped forward. "I'd like that a lot," she said as she gave Olivia a grateful smile.

Olivia set the knitting aside and stood up. "Let me just see if Patricia can watch Penny for a little bit. We'll be back soon?" When Carol nodded, Olivia dashed inside with Penny. Two minutes later she emerged, a smile on her face. Patricia hadn't just been willing, she had been absolutely thrilled to have the baby all to herself. She had practically ripped Penny from Olivia's arms and shoved her out the door. "Let's go," she said.

There was no Sophia there on the highway, or any indication that she might have come back. While Lori and Carol stood by the car, speaking quietly, Olivia asked T-Dog to help her go through some of the cars. "Glenn managed to find some new clothes for me, but not much for Penny. I need to see if there's anything here that she can use."

T-Dog looked over the cars, obviously reluctant to do what Olivia was asking. When she started to say that she could do it on her own, he stopped her. "No, I'll help. Just don't like to think about what happened to all those kids."

Olivia curled her lips back in disgust. Up till then, she had managed to ignore that fact. "Well, try not to think to much about it. Lets just get it done and over with."

As they moved through the various cars they searched out ones that had car seats in the back. "Do you want stuff that she'll grow into?" T-Dog called out. "I found some clothes that say nine months."

"Might as well, I don't think that it's gonna get any easier to find stuff as time goes on," she yelled back as she moved on to the next car. There was a infant seat in the back, and it was covered with smears of blood. Olivia looked away quickly from the sight, it caused her to think of Penny, how vulnerable she was. Who knows what might have happened if Penny had been born a few months earlier.

Her eyes firmly fixed away from the car seat, she opened the passenger side door. On the floor of the front seat there was a diaper bag and it looked as though it was packed full with stuff. Olivia searched through, pulling out diapers, wipes, formula, bottles and outfits for a boy. Oh well, it didn't matter now what color they dressed her in. She shoved everything back in the bag and reached over to pop the trunk.

She gasped as she lifted the lid all the way up. "T! Over here!" she called out excitedly. There must have been a case of formula as well as a case of diapers in there. Two suitcases were stacked next to the boxes. She pulled one out and started going through it. She felt mildly disgusted with herself, it felt like grave robbing, but what choice did she have?

T-Dog sprinted over and let out a whistle. "I'd say you hit the jackpot," his voice filled with wonder.

"Will you go through that one and see what's in there?" Olivia indicated the other suitcase. She continued digging through the one in front of her. It was all men's clothes but she set aside some that she thought would fit a few of the guys in the group, mainly Rick and Daryl as they were about the same size. She pulled a small bag out of the suitcase and unzipped it to find a bunch of toiletries, it went on top of the stack that would go back with them. "Anything?" she asked T-Dog.

"Got a bunch of stuff here. Some baby things and a whole bunch of women's clothes. I think we should just take the whole thing back."

Before he could shut the lid, Olivia said, "Here, put these stuff in with all that." She handed him the things she wanted to keep. She pulled the diapers and formula out of the trunk. "Can you get these if I take the suitcase and diaper bag?"

The large black man nodded. "No problem. I left some things over there too. I'll go get them as soon as I put these in the car." T-Dog headed off a brisk pace back to the car.

Olivia looked down at the suitcase and bag at her feet. Suddenly she felt a tremendous pressure on her to keep her daughter safe. So many children killed, would Penny be one of those? What would be the odds that she'd survive to be an adult? That she'd manage to have something more than a life of fear?

She looked over the tops of the cars, to where Lori had her arms wrapped around a sobbing Carol. Tears began to slide down Olivia's cheeks. Not only for Carol and Sophia, but for herself too, for the fears she had about Penny's future. She sank down behind the car and wrapped her arms around her waist.

She let herself go for a minute, a minute to grieve all that had been lost in this world, before she wiped her face and stood up. Now was not the time to give into fear and grief, she had a daughter waiting back at the farm for her and she'd be hungry soon.

When they pulled up to the farmhouse, it was clear there was something happening. Shane was stalking around, waving his arms. He carried a duffel of guns over his shoulder. As Olivia watched, horrified, he started passing them out. Hershel had made it clear he didn't want anyone carrying on the farm.

The car ground to a halt and everyone sprang out. Shane was just bending down to pass Carl a gun, causing Lori to shove her way through the others. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded as she stepped in front of her son.

"Barn's full of walkers, Hershel's been keeping them in there! Glenn told us right after you all left." Shane shouted. "Can't have them in there, so close to where we sleep!"

"This is not your call Shane, Rick will handle this," Lori said, her voice firm.

"You want walkers right next to where you sleep? Next to Carl?" Shane shouted at her. "Rick hasn't done shit about this! Went to talk to Hershel after we found out. 'We're still negotiating,' is all he's said. Well how long does he want us to 'negotiate'?" Shane rubbed his hand over the top of his head. For some reason the sound his hand made as it slid over his buzz cut grated in Olivia's ears.

"You do this, my father will make you leave tonight!" Maggie shouted at Shane from the porch steps.

"We ain't going anywhere," Shane snarled at Maggie. "You with me?" he asked Daryl.

Olivia watched as Daryl paused for a second before taking the shotgun Shane was holding out. "Yeah, I'm with you," he said.

Olivia scurried around everyone to rush up the porch stairs to where Patricia had just emerged with her daughter. She lifted the baby from Patricia's arms and held her tight to her chest. If Hershel made them leave...

She followed the others down towards the barn, unsure of what to do. This was an impossible situation. She understood why Shane and the others were upset, but they couldn't do anything that might get them kicked off the farm. She couldn't afford to leave, not with Penny.

The already tense situation got worse when Rick walked out of the woods with Hershel and Beth's boyfriend Jimmy. Both Hershel and Rick were holding snare poles with walkers attached to the ends. Olivia took a step back in surprise. What were they doing with them?

She barely listened as everyone began arguing at once, there was so much going on it was like she was on sensory overload. All she could do was watch the scene in front of her unfolding with eyes that were wide with fear and horror.

When Shane fired his gun at the walker Hershel was holding, she jumped. Penny started crying and Olivia held her tight. She wanted to take her away from all this, from all the danger, but she had to stay and see what happens.

Shane shot the walker repeatedly, yelling at Hershel the entire time, about how the woman on the end of the pole was dead. Finally, he walked closer and shot it in the head. He pivoted around and ran up to the barn. Olivia couldn't help but take another step back as he broke the locks off and backed up. Walkers began emerging from the barn and those in the group with guns stepped up next to Shane and began firing.

Olivia pressed Penny's ear to her chest and covered the other with her hand. The sound of all the gunfire was deafening. It didn't last long though, probably less than two minutes. When the last shot had been fired, the sound of the Greene family's sobs filled the air. Olivia's eyes were wide as she took in the scene in front of her.

Just as Shane was turning back around to face Rick, the barn door pushed open just a little more. A preteen girl stepped out through the doors and the group froze. If that wasn't indication enough of who it was, Carol's cry of pain and her dash to reach the walker was confirmation enough for Olivia. The young girl was Sophia.

Daryl dropped the shotgun he had been holding and grabbed Carol around the waist, pulling her to the ground as she tried to run past him. "Sophia!" Carol's wail was heartbreaking. She continued to call out her daughter's name again and again as everyone else looked on in horror.

It was Rick that finally stepped up. Although he hadn't taken part in shooting the other walkers from the barn, he upholstered his gun and stepped through the group to stand in front of the little girl.

"Don't look," she heard Daryl say to Carol. It was good advice and Olivia closed her eyes until she heard the shot and the thump the body made as it hit the ground. When she opened them again, she saw Carol wretch herself away from Daryl and walk towards her.

"Carol," she breathed. Olivia held out her hand to the woman that had become her friend.

"I can't," Carol managed to choke out as she passed.

Olivia stood there, watching Carol stumble away towards the camp. She wasn't even aware that there were tears streaming down her face.

"You okay?" Daryl's voice was quiet. Olivia only managed to nod as she turned to look at him. "Shit," he muttered as he looked her over. His hands came up to rest on either side of her face as he thumbs brushed the tears from her cheeks. "Here, give me the baby," he said.

Olivia glanced down and saw that her hands were shaking. She was suddenly aware that the rest of her was as well. Daryl had to take the baby from her, she couldn't get her arms to move. It felt as though her body had become this thing that was no longer attached to her mind. "She needs to eat," she said, as if robotic.

"Okay, let's just get you somewhere else," Daryl said. Holding Penny in one arm, he grabbed hold of her upper arm to steer her back towards camp. Her walked her over to one of the camping chairs and lowered her into it.

"He didn't have to do that," she said quietly. "He didn't have to do it that way. The Greene's had family in there, people they loved, he knew that." She looked up at Daryl.

He squatted down in front of her. "Maybe not, but it needed to be done. He was right, it wasn't safe having them there, so close to where we sleep."

"And Carol.." Her voice broke and she paused to regain whatever composure she could.

Daryl's jaw was tight as his eyes looked over to where Carol had disappeared into the woods. "Yeah, I know," was all he said. "Here," he passed a still screaming Penny over to her. "I think she needs you."

Olivia comforted her daughter for a few minutes before trying to feed her. She needed it perhaps even more than the baby in her arms.

Her eyes were heavy from breastfeeding when ten minutes later there was a loud argument coming from the front of the house. Olivia didn't need to turn around to know that it was between Hershel and Shane. She kept her eyes closed and tried to keep her body relaxed, her heart stopped however when she heard Hershel yell, "I mean it! Off my land!"

She looked down at Penny who was nursing contentedly. She couldn't leave, not now, not with Penny. She'd have to talk to Hershel, but later. They were grieving and needed their privacy. Besides, maybe Rick would still be able to work it out. Somehow.

* * *

Everyone was busy for the remainder of the morning, collecting bodies and digging graves. Olivia felt exhausted from the emotional rollercoaster the day had been, she could only imagine how the others, who knew Carol and Sophia so much better, were feeling.

Finally it was time. The bodies of the walkers were piled at one end of the field, waiting to be burned, but first it was time for Sophia's funeral. Olivia trudged down to the edge of the field along with the others. When she arrived to she looked around to see that both Carol and Daryl were missing. Everyone was quiet as they waited for them to arrive.

Finally Daryl walked down. "Just get it going," he said harshly. "Carol ain't coming." His movements were jerky as he stood on the fringe of the group.

Everyone began to murmur to each other, and Lori walked over to Daryl and said something so quiet Olivia couldn't hear. Daryl only shrugged in response. She knew him well enough to know that his anger was barely in check. There were times when she might be willing to push it, to see what was going on, but this wasn't one of them. She prayed that Lori would back off too, as he demonstrated yesterday, it was never pretty when Daryl exploded.

Lori must have had the same thought, because she left Daryl to go stand back by Carl's side. The little boy leaned his body against his mother's side, seeking comfort. Rick glanced back at the camp once more before beginning the opening prayer. It felt strange to have a service for Sophia without Carol there, but Olivia understood it.

When her friend from college, Sara, had a twin brother die suddenly, Sara didn't go to the wake or the funeral, or even take any time off of work. She just continued on for a few weeks like nothing had happened. It wasn't until one night when they were out at dinner that Sara finally broke down. It had been the dinner special that had done it, lobster ravioli had been his favorite dish. Sometimes grief was like that, you had to put it away until you were ready to deal with it.

When it was over, the group disbanded, everyone going off in their own direction. Olivia headed off across one of the unused fields to go sit by a small creek that ran through the edge of the property. As she walked, she ran her hand over the thigh high grass that was growing. The sensation was pleasant, soft and silky all at once. It seemed so wrong that there could be pleasure on such a heartbreaking day.

She sat at the edge of the creek for a while, thinking about everything that had happened that day. It was hard to believe so many things could go so wrong in such a short period of time. When the sun began to set, she placed Penny on her blanket and pulled off her shoes. Climbing down the embankment she stepped out into the shallow stream. As the cool water ran over her feet she sighed. She was still so swollen from the pregnancy and the water relieved the aching in her feet and ankles.

"Shouldn't be out here all alone," Daryl said looking down at her.

Olivia spun around, surprised, she hadn't heard him approach. "Jesus Daryl! You know I hate that!" She waded over closer to the bank. "You see Carol?" Daryl shook his head, twisting his body away. It was a stance Olivia knew well, it usually meant he was both angry and confused about something. "She's grieving you know. That little girl was her whole life, the only good thing she had. Sometimes it's just to hard to think about what you've lost." Olivia felt the tears welling in her eyes again.

Brushing them away she let out a choked laugh. "God, I don't know what's wrong with me. Any little thing has me crying like crazy." She bent over and wet her hands in the creek. As she pressed them to her face she let out a sigh of pleasure. Wiping her wet hands on her jeans she went to climb up the embankment and Daryl squatted down in front of her and extended a hand to help pull her up.

It wasn't just an offer of help, if she took his hand it would mean a truce between them. Her eyes locked on his, it was the misery she saw there that had her placing her hand in his. Sophia had meant something to him, and he was grieving as well. For as angry as she still was about yesterday, she couldn't let him hurt and not do anything.

When he pulled her up, she took a step forward and wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest. Daryl's breath hitched in his chest, it took him a moment but then his arms reached up and enfolded her, pressing her tight against his body.

They stood there like that for a while, finding comfort in each other's embrace. It was, of course, Daryl that pulled away first. "Come on, we gotta get back," he said gruffly. Before she could move, Daryl walked over and lifted Penny gently into his arms, kissing her forehead lightly before placing her against his chest.

They took their time walking back through the fields. They didn't talk, but stayed close to each other. It reminded Olivia of all the times they had walked through the woods back home.

As they got closer to the house, Shane came running up to them. "Hey man, you two seen Lori? You know where she went?"

Stunned, Olivia asked, "Lori? No, why?"

"She's missing. Can't find her anywhere, and one of the cars is gone." Shane was clearly agitated, his body moved in jerky motions and his eyes kept darting from place to place.

Daryl was too quiet, Olivia turned to look at him. At her questioning glance he answered. "She asked me to go to town. Find Rick and Hershel and bring them back, I told her no."

Shane's lips pulled back in a snarl. "What! What the hell Daryl?" His hands made fists at his sides.

Daryl thrust the baby at Olivia then stepped up closer to Shane. "Ain't my job to babysit. Why the hell is it my problem?" Daryl looked Shane up and down. "Besides, thought you already had that area covered."

Olivia watched, eyes wide, as the two men stared each other down, the air was thick with tension. "Hey," she said, as she pushed her way between them. "I'm sure she didn't go far."

Shane's eyes drifted down to her. "She took a car!" he yelled in her face. Drops of spit hit her face, and she quickly wiped it away.

She felt Daryl begin to shift, to come around her, and she moved to block him. She couldn't let this turn into a fight, both of these men were too worked up. "Then I'm sure she'll be back any minute. If you're so worried about her, go after her. You know where she's going now." Daryl's chest was now pressed up against her back, she could feel him shaking with anger behind her.

Shane's face was a mask of fury as he turned away from them and headed over to the driveway. Olivia sighed with relief and let her body relax. Shane had scared her with the enormity of his anger. She allowed her eyes to drift closed for a moment to allow the tension seep out.

It wasn't until Daryl shifted that she realized she had leaned back against him, and that hers head was resting against the front of his shoulder. "Sorry," she said quietly as she moved away.

Daryl shrugged in that way that had always driven her nuts. It was meant to indicate that he didn't care about something, when in fact, he did, and just didn't want to talk about it.

Changing the subject, she questioned Daryl, "What do you think that was about? I mean, I know Rick and Shane are friends, so Shane's gonna feel some responsibility towards Lori, but that just seemed out of proportion." A look flashed across his face, but he remained silent. "What do you know Daryl?" she demanded.

Daryl's feet shuffled back and forth, he began looking all around, determined not to answer. Olivia knew this game. She stayed silent and kept her eyes fixed on him, sooner or later he would break.

This time it was sooner. He lasted barely a minute before he blurted out, "They used to sleep together!" He immediately looked down to his shoes.

Olivia knew how he felt about talking about people, Daryl could keep a secret all the way to the grave, not because you asked him to, but because he didn't think it was anybody's business. For that reason she tread lightly as she asked, "Shane and Lori? When?"

Daryl sighed, knowing that now that he'd opened his mouth, he was going to have to tell her all about it. "Not sure when it started, it was going on right up until Rick got back. I don't think that Shane's all that happy about it ending."

Olivia looked at him confused, "Back? Where'd he go?"

Daryl's forehead creased in confusion for a minute, "Forgot. 'Course you don't know. Rick was in a coma when all this happened." Daryl spread his hands out in circles. "Lucky for him, he woke up a few days after the hospital got over run. By then of course, Lori and Carl had split with Shane."

Eyes wide, Olivia asked, "They just left him? How'd he manage to find them?" The questions flew out of her mouth, and there were more circling in her head.

Daryl shrugged. "They thought he was dead, it was a safe bet. It was just dumb luck that he managed to find them, he ran into Glenn and some of the others in Atlanta. Was Rick that handcuffed Merle to the roof."

Her thoughts immediately turned away from Shane and Lori and focused on Merle. She had been wondering about this, but hadn't wanted to ask. "I take it you weren't there." It wasn't a question but a statement, she knew how loyal he was to his brother. If Daryl had been there, Olivia had no doubt that either Merle would be here right now, or both Merle and Daryl would be dead.

His lips pressed together tight and he shook his head. "Was out hunting when it all happened. Can't say I took it well when they told me. Rick volunteered to go back though, help me find him, so did T-Dog and Glenn."

She stayed quiet, waiting for Daryl to say something else but he turned to look off in the distance. Olivia would have bet anything he was wondering where his brother was right now. She knew Daryl would never give up on his brother being alive till he saw the body himself.

As Olivia's stomach growled, Daryl looked back at her and chuckled. "Never heard your stomach make so much noise before, must be something to do with Penny. Come on, let's see what we can scrounge up for dinner."

With Carol grieving and Lori gone, Olivia decided that it wouldn't just be right to make something just for her and Daryl. Then when she found out that Hershel's daughter Beth was in some kind of shock, she expanded the number of people she was cooking for to include them. Luckily Patricia offered the use of the kitchen, cooking for sixteen people over a campfire would have been a nightmare.

It didn't take her long to have a bunch of pots bubbling on the stove. She had realized right after she got married that she really enjoyed cooking, as long as she wasn't just cooking for herself. She started humming to herself as she stirred the sauce on the stove. With so many people to cook for, she was making a pasta dish with roasted vegetables and chicken. Lucky for her, Daryl volunteered to dress the chicken, she never could get used to doing it. She didn't even like cleaning out the ones you bought in the supermarket.

Patricia came over and sniffed above the stove. "Smells great, I've never been a good cook, although Otis's waist size would have said differently. That man could eat anything."

Olivia chuckled lightly, "Well you might want to reserve judgement till you've tasted it. It's been a while since I've cooked for this many people at once. I might have gotten the proportions all wrong." Grabbing a spoon she dipped it in the sauce. "Here, feel brave enough to be my guinea pig?"

Patricia smiled as she blew on the spoon to cool the sauce. Her eyebrows lifted when she tasted it, "That's really good. Where did you learn to cook like that?"

Olivia shrugged her shoulders. "My ex-husband liked to entertain and he didn't like caterers, so I cooked. It was easier like that." Thinking back to how things used to be, Olivia welled up with tears again.

Patricia's motherly voice asked her, "You all right sweetie?" She laid her hand reassuringly on Olivia's arm.

Quickly Olivia brushed away the tears. "Yeah, I don't even know why I'm crying, seems like it's all I've done all day."

Patricia looked at her for a moment before she said, "Let me guess, feeling a little irritable, trouble sleeping, could cry over spilt milk?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Olivia asked the older woman.

Patricia let out a hearty laugh, "Honey, you've got the baby blues. Now me and Otis, we were never lucky enough to be blessed with a child, but I've been a nurse for too many years not to know it when I see it. Don't worry about it, it should pass in a week or two, then you'll feel right as rain."

"And if it doesn't?" Olivia asked hesitantly. She was afraid to know the answer.

Patricia's arms enveloped her, "Honey, don't you worry 'bout that. You'll see, in a few weeks you'll feel better." She pulled back to push Olivia's hair out of her face. "In the mean time, get plenty of sleep, nap whenever you can, and eat right. Try not to let yourself get too upset about things."

Before she even realized that she was doing it, she blurted out, "But what if Hershel makes us leave? I can't take Penny on the road, it'll be a death sentence for us...for her." Olivia's voice broke as she finished the sentence.

Patricia pursed her lips as she thought about what Olivia said. Suddenly she broke out in a smile, "Don't worry about it, I know how to handle Hershel. He won't make you and Penny leave." She took Olivia's face in her soft hands. "I promise," she whispered.

Olivia felt better and worse at what Patricia had said. Relief that perhaps she could stay here, horror that she hadn't included Daryl. She couldn't leave the farm, but could she let him leave with the others without her?


	7. Chapter 7

He hated being so close to everyone, but Olivia had insisted that she stay in the tent that Hershel had lent her, so he moved his down to where everyone else was. When he had said that it was fine with him if she wanted to come stay with him, she had replied, "No point in keeping you up all night, besides, you can sleep in whatever you like now," a smile playing on the edge of her lips. So here he was down in the main camp... with everyone else.

Daryl stretched out on his sleeping bag and thought about what had happened last night when Shane brought Lori back. Turns out Lori never made it into town, she had flipped her car over when she hit a walker. Daryl's eyebrows drew together thinking about it, he felt badly he blew her off yesterday, especially now that he knew she was pregnant.

Shane had very kindly announced that little tidbit to everyone last night. Daryl couldn't help but question whose kid it was, but his money was riding on it being Shane's. He wondered how Rick felt about all this, or if he even knew.

As he pondered that question, he suddenly jumped to his feet. "Shit!" he cursed quietly. He had forgotten that Glenn, Rick and Hershel hadn't gotten back last night. It had been too late to go into town to look for them last night, but the sun would be up any second. Daryl quickly threw on clothes and hopped out of the tent, pulling on his boots as he went.

He passed by Livi's tent and heard her signing softly to Penny inside. He paused and listed as she sang. Olivia was great at so many things, but she couldn't carry a tune at all. He couldn't help it, a chuckle escaped and the singing stopped.

"Laugh it up Daryl!" Olivia called out from inside.

Letting go and laughing heartily now, he called out softly, "How'd you know it was me?"

"Humph!" she called back. "Who else would be lurking outside my tent before sunrise? Why don't you come in, instead of talking through it?"

Daryl wrestled with himself, he should be getting ready to go look for Rick and the others, but he'd like to spend a little time with Livi too, maybe even hold Penny for a bit. Thinking about the little redheaded baby, Daryl's decision was made and he ducked into the tent.

Penny started fussing as Daryl was lowering himself to the floor. "Sorry, didn't mean to wake her," he said contritely, Livi looked exhausted.

Looking down at the crying baby, Olivia said dryly, "Oh, you didn't. She's been like this all night. I think she might have a little bellyache or something. If I wasn't rocking or singing to her, she'd just start fussing." Her eyes meet his. "I'm so tired."

There was something in her voice that had Daryl reaching for the baby and lifting her out of Livi's arms. "Why don't you sleep for a little while and I'll watch her. Just tell me what time she'll need to eat, and I'll bring her back then." Going into town to look for everyone could wait for a few hours, Livi needed his help here. Besides, the sun still hadn't come up yet.

"Really?" Livi asked him, her voice filled with gratitude. When he grinned and nodded at her, she said, "I fed her not too long ago, so maybe in about an hour?"

Daryl couldn't help but think Livi sounded like she was asking for a lot. "No problem. We'll be just fine, won't we bug?" he crooned at Penny.

"That would be so great Daryl, thank you. Here's some diapers and a pacifier, actually, why don't you just take the whole bag." Livi hooked a diaper bag over his shoulder and practically shoved him outside of the tent. "If you have any problems, just come get me," she said as she zipped the flap shut.

Daryl started walking over to one of the chairs by the fire pit. "Jeez, thanks for coming, here's your hat," he joked to Penny. As he watched, her little face screwed up and her legs started moving. Next thing he knew, there was vibration where his hand was cradling her butt. He sniffed the air and groaned. "Your mom did that on purpose didn't she?" The baby just closed her eyes in response.

* * *

When then truck and pulled in shortly after sunrise, Daryl had let out a sigh of relief. He'd had enough of missing group members for a long, long while. That relief had given way to confusion however when he saw the blindfolded kid in the backseat. Confusion gave way to anger as Rick filled him in on what happened in town.

So now Daryl was pissed as he stood outside the barn, waiting for Hershel to come out after he finished patching up the kid's leg. How the hell could Rick be this stupid? For once Shane and him were on the same page. They never should have brought the kid back here, he had tried to kill them for fuck's sake!

He shifted Penny in his arms and thought how the kid was lucky that there was no one up that Daryl could pass her off to. Daryl would have just dragged the kid off the farm and dumped him in the swamp.

When Glenn came down from the camp, he was dressed in fresh clothes. "They still all in there?" he asked Daryl.

"Yup," he replied glancing backwards the barn doors. "Tell me again what happened."

Glenn sighed, this must have been the third time that Daryl had asked. "Daryl, come on, I told you all this already."

"So tell me again!" Daryl spat at Glenn, causing Penny to start fussing. "Look what you did," he snarled even as he started bouncing the baby gently.

"Fine," Glenn said tiredly. "We found Hershel down at the bar. Rick had him just about convinced to come back with us when a couple of guys walked in off the street. At first they were real nice, just seemed happy to see other people that weren't walkers. Then they started to talk about seeing about settling down in the area. It wasn't until they mentioned the cars and the fact that they were too clean for us to be living out of them, that I even realized that they were looking to find out where we were staying. Rick knew it though, a long time before I did. Anyways, once Rick told them there was no way, it got ugly. They drew their guns and Rick shot them. The others, they must have been nearby because it wasn't more than a minute before they showed up and started firing. Walkers came and they took off, leaving that one behind." Glenn nodded towards the barn door to indicate the kid inside.

"And he had gotten his leg impaled on a fence post," Daryl repeated the information he had been told earlier. "They didn't mention where they had been recently? Any towns in the area they had been to?"

Glenn shook his head, confusion on his face. "No. Why does it matter anyway?"

"Figured if we know where they've been, might be able to figure out where they might camp out. Or at least what direction they'd be heading in."

"Why would we care about that?" Glenn asked.

Daryl looked at him, "Jesus, you're awfully naïve aren't you? Think they're gonna be happy that at least two of their guys are dead? That another one's missing? Maybe if you all hadn't brought this one back, they might have thought we were just passing through, but no. You all had be the good guys and rescue this one in there. People passing through wouldn't have taken someone that just tried to kill them. Especially not one that's injured. Might as well hung out a sign that said _There's a Safe Place Here. Come and Find It_!"

Glenn's face paled as he realized what Daryl was saying. "Do you really think they'll come look for us?"

Daryl couldn't help but notice how Glenn's gaze kept drifting over to the farm house. He'd bet anything that the kid was thinking of Maggie, what would happen to her if the other group attacked. A person would have to be blind not to see what what going on between him and Hershel's oldest daughter.

"Maybe, depends on how tight the group is, what their supply situation is." Daryl looked down at Penny and felt a tightening in his stomach. "I think we should keep a better eye out at any rate."

"Yeah," Glenn said softly, "Maybe we should."

Just then Rick, Shane and Hershel walked out of the barn. It had killed Daryl not to go in with them, but Olivia would kill him if he brought Penny anywhere near this guy. "So?" he asked Hershel.

Wiping his hands clean on a rag, Hershel answered, "I sewed up the muscle the best I could, there was a lot of damage. He'll probably have a limp for the rest of his life, but as long as it doesn't get infected he'll be alright."

"And then what?" Shane demanded. "We just let him wander around here? Say welcome to the group?"

Rick sighed heavily. "No, we won't be doing that. I've been thinking about it, and I think that as soon as he's well enough, we drive him out and leave him someplace."

"How far out? It's got to be far enough he won't be able to get back here easily. He knows approximately where we are." Daryl said.

Rick looked at Daryl with heavy eyes. "Don't worry it will be. Now everyone calm down. We got time before he's going to be well enough to travel."

"And when will that be?" Glenn asked Hershel.

Hershel frowned, "Don't rightly know, maybe a week if everything goes well." He paused for a second, then fixing his eyes on Rick he said, "Daryl's right though, he can't be able to find his way back here."

"With any luck, he's not even sure what town he was in. When we dump him, we'll make sure it'll be a long way back with lots of forks in the road." Rick reassured everyone.

Penny, who had been becoming increasingly fidgety let out a wail. "I gotta get her back to Livi," Daryl said. "Best think about what you're going to tell everyone."

"That's right," said Hershel. "We do need to figure out how much to tell the others."

"We tell the truth," Rick insisted. "Everyone should what's going on. No more secrets," he said, looking at everyone.

Daryl couldn't help but think Rick's eyes lingered on Shane a little when he said that. "Humph," he thought as he headed back to the camp. "So Rick ain't as clueless as I thought."

Livi's eyes popped open the moment he stepped into her tent. "Get any sleep?" he asked.

"No," she sighed. "But it felt good just to even rest my eyes. What was going on out there? Did I hear the others come back?"

He filled Livi in on everything while she fed Penny. Even if Rick hadn't insisted on being honest, he would have told her everything anyway. He wanted her to know exactly what was going on.

"Does this type of thing happen to you guys a lot?" she asked. "Seems like it's nonstop around here. If it's not one thing, it's another."

"I hadn't much thought about it, but yeah, it's always something. Look, just don't be wandering off by yourself. Stay close to the farm, alright?"

Olivia's eyes drew together. "How worried about this are you?"

Just 'cause he wanted her to know what was going on, didn't mean he wanted to scare her. "Don't worry about it, we're safe enough here."

"Then why..?"

Daryl cut her off, "I said don't worry about Livi. We're just being cautious, is all." His tone left no room for argument and Olivia nodded slowly.

"Fine, I'll stay close to the house." As he moved to leave the tent, she continued. "But Daryl, you'd tell me if I really needed to worry, wouldn't you?"

He nodded tightly as he threw the tent flap open. Walking away, he expelled his breath heavily. He was worried, more worried than he wanted to admit. This was a small community with few roads that served the surrounding farms. If this other group got it into their heads that they wanted to come look for them, it wouldn't be hard to find them.

There were two things that might be in their favor, the first was if the rest of the group hadn't noticed the cars and how clean it was, the second was if they didn't go back looking for their missing member. If either of those two things happened however, they could come, and they could find the farm.

* * *

The next few days were tense, everyone was on edge. Even Livi didn't seem to have patience for anyone. When Daryl dropped the squirrels he had brought back for dinner one afternoon on the table, he accidentally knocked her drink over.

"Jesus Daryl! Would it kill you to watch what you're doing?" she yelled at him as she sprang up from her seat. "You got me all wet!"

"So sorry your highness, shall I get you a towel?" he snapped back at her. He was tired from being out all day and frustrated with the small amount of game that he had been able to bring back. Hershel had been generous with the livestock, but with so many people, they'd go through it quickly if they didn't hunt.

Olivia shot him a dirty look, "Forget it," she muttered, skimming her hands down her front to try to brush off most of the water. "Could you at least move those... things.. away from the vegetables?" She indicated the squirrels with a jerk of her chin.

Daryl's patience snapped, "What? You're too good to eat 'em?" He laid his hands on the table and leaned over to stare at her. "Well don't feel like you have to, it'd be nice to feed one less person!"

"You are such an asshole!" she yelled back at him. "Would it kill you to just move them?"

Carol came running over, "Hey, what's going on here?" She looked back and forth between the two of them.

"Nothing," Daryl snarled yanking the squirrels off the table. "Just moving the vermin away for Princess Olivia."

Olivia opened her mouth to say something, but Penny started crying at that moment. "Whatever," she muttered as she turned and stalked away to pick up her daughter.

Daryl's jaw clenched as he watched her walk away. The touch of Carol's hand on his arm had him looking down at her.

"She's just tired and stressed out. It's not easy having a baby in the best of circumstances, and this isn't it." Carol said gently. "Try to have some patience with her, you're the closest thing she has to family now."

Still seething, Daryl asked, "What the hell does she have to be stressed about. Everyone else here does the heavy lifting. She's just along for the ride."

Carol's eyes went wide. "You're kidding right? She pulls her weight around here in addition to taking care of Penny. Besides, have you looked at her lately? She's lost almost all her baby weight in just over a week, she's barely sleeping, and she's living in a world where the dead are walking around eating people!"

Daryl felt the redness of embarrassment sneaking up his neck and staining his cheeks. He had noticed all those things but he had thought that it all was pretty normal. Besides, she was Livi, she was always so calm about everything. He just wasn't used to her snapping at him like that.

As Olivia walked Penny around, patting her back soothingly, Daryl looked at her with a more critical eye. She had bags under her eyes and she looked pale. "She not getting enough to eat?" he asked Carol.

"She's probably burning around three thousand calories a day feeding the baby, but it doesn't matter. She's not eating what she gets. I know you're not around a lot for breakfast or lunch, but you must have noticed she almost never finishes dinner."

Daryl did know that. More often than not, Livi pushed food off her plate onto his. He hadn't thought much about it, she had always done it when they were kids.

There must have been something in his expression, because Carol said, "Don't worry, it happens sometimes. It's so overwhelming to have a newborn that sometimes a new mom just gets anxious. I'm sure that's all it is." Her hand rubbed his arm soothingly. "Just try to be nice to her," she said, a pleading quality in her voice.

"Sure Carol," he said, eyes still fixed firmly on Olivia. After a few moments of thought, he moved away to clean the squirrels he had in his hand.

He sat down next to Olivia at dinner, a bowl of stew in his hands. They still hadn't spoken since their altercation this afternoon, but since she wasn't shooting daggers at him anytime she looked his way, he figured it was safe.

Tasting the stew, he turned slightly towards her, "It's good."

"Hmm," she murmured as she pushed her food around in her bowl. "Lori made it. Here, why don't you take the rest of mine," she said as she moved to spoon it into his bowl.

Pulling his dish away, he looked at her. "Why don't you eat yours?" he asked, his voice gentle.

Surprise fluttered across her face. "I'm not real hungry tonight. Here, take it." Again she tried to pass him the remainder of her food.

"Livi..." he paused unsure of what to say. Finally he just blurted, "Eat it." He fixed his eyes on hers and stared down at her.

"Daryl," she rolled her eyes at him. "I'm just not hungry."

"Yeah, well apparently you're never hungry. When was the last time you looked in the mirror? Have you any idea how much weight you've lost in the last week?" He asked, gruffer than he intended. When her lower lip trembled, Daryl swore softly. Lowering his voice he said, "You just need to take better care of yourself. I don't care if you're hungry or not, now just eat it."

Livi looked down at her barely touched bowl and with obvious reluctance picked up a spoonful of stew.

Daryl watched her eat out of the corner of his eye. Even after he was all done and his bowl clean, he stayed next to her, monitoring every bite she put in her mouth.

Finally she passed him her bowl. It wasn't empty, but she had eaten a fair amount. "I really can't eat another bite, alright?"

Daryl nodded and although he was more than willing to finish off what was left, he placed her bowl in his, and brought them over to be washed. She couldn't think anymore that whatever she didn't want to eat, she could give to him.

When he turned back to rejoin her, Olivia was already walking back to her tent with Penny.

* * *

One worry he had was taken away the next morning when Rick told him that Hershel had agreed to let everyone stay. "Even Shane?" he couldn't stop himself from asking.

Rick chuckled, "Even Shane. Have to say it surprised me too. Think the run in with the others in town convinced Hershel of how dangerous it really is out there."

Frowning at the mention of the other group, Daryl asked, "Think we're in the clear?"

Rick scanned the farm. "I'd like to be able to say yes, but I don't know. I don't think the others would have any idea that we're staying in the area, but if they decided to hang around.. we could cross paths with them again."

Daryl ran his tongue over his teeth as he absorbed everything Rick had said. "Okay, then we get this kid off the property ASAP."

"I've been thinking the same thing. It'd be a problem if they showed up here and there's Randall tied up in the barn." He paused when Daryl let out a wry chuckle. "Shane and I have already been looking at locations that we can drop him off. Think we've found a pretty good one. It's almost twenty miles out and there's lots of main roads that lead in there."

Daryl was surprised they had already picked a place without him even knowing they were looking. "You know he probably won't make it out there on his own." He didn't know why but he felt as though he needed to point it out.

A grimace flashed across Rick's face. "Yeah, I know," he said in a slow drawl. "He can't stay here though. I don't see any other options. At least this way he'll have a chance."

"A small chance," Daryl thought as he stared at the barn where the kid was being held.

* * *

**So I wanted to thank everyone that has reviewed. I so appreciate it. It really makes all the angst of writing worthwhile. Reviews also help others decide what story they want to start reading, so if you do review, know that you are helping me draw others to this story. **


	8. Chapter 8

"What the fuck do you mean you brought him back?" He screamed at Rick.

Rick held up his hands in kind of a mock surrender. "There was nothing we could have done, he knows Maggie, he knew where he was the entire time. If we let him go, and he met up with his group again, he'd be able to lead them right here."

"Shit!" Daryl muttered. "Well now what do we do with him?"

Shane said matter of factly, "I say we put a bullet in his brain and just get it done. I don't even know why we're still discussing this." He was all but wringing his hands in anticipation.

"No Shane," Rick said wearily, as if they'd had this fight the entire way home, and they might have, by the looks of the bruising on both of their faces. Although Daryl had an idea that the fight was about something else entirely. "We're not just going to kill him without thinking all this through. I'm not going to do that."

"Rick," Shane said exasperated. "There is no other choice. What the hell is there to think about?"

Daryl could tell Rick was frustrated with the whole situation. He looked tense and the way he was standing was just a little off, a little crooked. "We need to find out everything about his group, who they are and how many of them there is."

"And you think he's just gonna tell you that?" Daryl asked incredulously.

Rick's face screwed up in disgust. "No, I don't. I think he's going to need some persuading." His eyes turned slowly towards Daryl.

Daryl almost took a step back in surprise at what Rick was asking him to do. "You sure about this?"

"I'll do it," Shane said eagerly. "He'll tell me." A smile pulled at the corner of his mouth.

"No," Rick said forcefully. "It's got to be Daryl." He turned and looked at him with a questioning expression.

There was no doubt as to why Rick didn't want Shane in there. He thought that Shane would probably kill him before he got any information out of him. Daryl's eyes moved over to Shane, he would have laughed at the crestfallen expression on Shane's face if the situation wasn't so serious. "Yeah, alright. I'll do it in the morning."

"Why wait?" Shane demanded. "Just go now."

Daryl shook his head. "Nah, give him some time to start to wonder what we're going to do with him. Be best if his imagination gets the better of him." And give himself some time to prepare for what he had to do.

It wasn't that he was against hurting someone, it wasn't the principle of it. He'd done it in the past, but then it had always been in a fair fight. He'd never done anything like this before, beat on a kid that could barely shave and was tied up. Had to say it left a little bit of a bad taste in his mouth.

As Olivia walked through his field of vision he nodded slightly to himself. It didn't really matter how he felt about it, he was doing it for the good of the group.

"Alright then, tomorrow morning." Rick said. He moved off towards the farm, patting Daryl's shoulder in thanks as he passed.

* * *

When he emerged from the barn the next morning, Daryl had two feelings coursing through him. The first was relief that it was over, the second was dread. What Randall had told him was the last thing he had wanted to hear.

As he walked towards everyone Shane called out, "So?"

Daryl shook his head slowly. "They're heavily armed and they're not looking to make friends. They roll through here, our boys are dead. Our women... well, they're gonna wish they were." His eyes drifted over to where Olivia was rocking Penny gently and his stomach churned unpleasantly.

"What did you do?" Carol asked as she stared at his bloody and bruised knuckles.

"Just had a little chat," he replied moving off. He had done his part, let the others figure out what to do next.

As he set his bow down next to a chair, he heard movement behind him. He didn't have to turn around to know that it was her. The others stepped so heavy, you could hear them a mile away. "What do you want Livi?"

She stepped around to face him and reaching down, pulled his hands up to look at them. He could see the disapproval on her face as she lifted her head. "Sit," she demanded.

As he lowered himself into the chair, she moved away to gather some supplies. As she brushed the wet cloth over the bleeding gashes, he had to fight the urge to pull away. She had done this for him when they were younger, but only when he hadn't been able to do it for himself, or when she managed to catch him by surprise.

"Why did you do that?" she asked quietly, her eyes focused on his cuts.

Instead of answering her question, he asked one of his own. "Where's Penny?"

"Carol has her," she said. "I think it's good for her after everything. You didn't answer my question Daryl." Slowly, she raised her eyes to his. She stared at him, unblinking, waiting for him to answer.

He knew that she wasn't going to let it go, that she'd keep at him until she got her answer. "It needed to be done Livi." When she just continued to look at him expectantly, he sighed and looked away. He couldn't look at her as he said this. "This other group, it's big, so much bigger than ours, around thirty men, plus women and a few kids. They have weapons, and not like ours. They have automatics and large caliber guns that they picked up from military outposts that were over run." He chanced a glance back at her and saw a deep frown etched across her forehead. When she opened her mouth to speak, he cut her off. "That's not all Livi. These men, they don't have morals. It's like they have some sort of pack mentality, a cruelness that they bring out in each other. I'm sure there's men that don't agree with the things that the others have done, but they don't stop it. They don't speak up."

"But the women..?" she drifted off unsure of even how to ask.

Daryl set aside the cloth that was resting on the back of his hand. She had stopped cleaning his knuckles some time before. Gently he took her hands in his. "The women stay behind. A wife sees her husband, who used to be a salesman, leave camp to risk his life for her and the rest of the group. When he comes back, she sees that he's brought back food, that he's safe. It's all she sees."

He could see as she began to truly understand what he was saying. "So what do we do?" she whispered.

Daryl stared at the cows that were wandering around the south pasture. "I just don't know."

They sat there quietly, each absorbed in their own thoughts. At no particular moment, Livi stood up, her shoulders slumped and as she walked away she shuffled her feet, as if they were too heavy to pick up.

Daryl stayed where he was, thinking about the situation. This farm, the security that it had, the resources that were here, it had to be protected. But if they stayed, what would be the cost? Daryl doubted that if the other group came that they would be able to hold on to the farm, not with the firepower Randall had described.

The desire to leave, to be on his own, began to creep up on him slowly. It wasn't that he was afraid of a fight, but first and foremost he was a survivor, that's all he ever had been. He was tied here though, with the group and Livi and Penny. Carol was right, she was his family now, and he didn't leave family. But that didn't mean that he liked it, that he didn't resent it.

* * *

The following day was hot and the humidity pressed down on him like a thick, wet, wool blanket that made it hard to breathe. He wiped the sweat from his brow as he trekked back to camp. "At least we'll be eating good tonight," he thought as he shifted the goat that lay across his shoulders. He had wished he could have found a way to round up the rest of the goats to herd them back, but a shepherd he was not. So instead he shot the one and hoped that the rest would stay put till he could figure out a way to bring them back.

He hadn't made it twenty feet past the tree line before Dale came running up to him. "I've got to talk to you Daryl."

Daryl rolled his eyes in response. When Dale had that tone of voice, it meant that the older man had his back up about something. "What do ya want?"

"It's Randall," he began, causing Daryl to freeze in place.

"He's escaped?" Daryl demanded.

"No, no," Dale assured him. "Rick's going to kill him." When Daryl just started back towards the camp, Dale hurried after him. "We can't let this happen." Although Daryl was the one carrying the goat, Dale panted heavily behind him.

"Better start jogging or something," Daryl said dryly. Dale's hand shot out and grabbed Daryl's arm. He snatched it away angry, but he stopped and turned to look at the older man.

"This isn't right and you know it. We just have to talk to Rick, make him see," Dale pleaded.

Daryl's eyes narrowed as he looked at him. "If Rick's made his decision, it means that it's made. He doesn't listen to me, he only listens to Shane. Let him." In spite of himself, he couldn't help but feel angry about how Rick had shut him out of the whole situation with Randall. At least until he had needed Daryl to do something for him.

"You can't say that you condone this Daryl! You're a descent man! Now Shane... Shane's dangerous," Dale said.

"Why? 'Cause he killed Otis?" Daryl asked.

"You knew?" Dale said incredulously.

Daryl nodded. He was surprised Dale knew as well, but he supposed that he shouldn't be. That old man didn't miss anything that was going on in the camp.

"So stand with me, help me convince the others that this isn't the way," Dale pleaded.

Daryl shifted under the weight of the goat and then started walking again, but slower this time. "Look Dale, I don't really care whether the kid lives or dies. It's Rick's call and it sounds like he's made up his mind. Just leave it alone."

Dale fell behind, and as he walked away, Daryl could feel the disappointment Dale was emitting. Emotions were funny like that, they could be almost tangible at times. As he saw Olivia and Penny, he wondered what emotions he put off when he was around them.

* * *

Carol was elated when she saw what he had brought back for dinner, she ran over to where he was gutting the carcass. "Well I don't know how to cook it, but we'll figure it out." She gave him a quick hug of happiness before he even knew what was happening. "Everyone's going to be going to be stuffed tonight!"

Daryl smiled awkwardly at her and moved to turn back to what he was doing. "Wait, Daryl, I need to talk to you," she said. When he sighed with exasperation she continued softly. "It's about Olivia."

Her words had him turning back to look at her. "What about Livi?" His voice was sharp with frustration and concern. Livi had been off lately and it didn't seem to be getting any better.

Carol ran a hand through her short, graying hair. "I'm concerned, and it's not just me. Patricia is too. We both thought it would pass, but it isn't, it's getting worse. It's not just that she's tired and not eating well anymore." She paused as if unsure how to continue, testing the limits of Daryl's patience. "She's passing off Penny whenever she can. I thought at first that she just needed a break but she's distancing herself from the baby. She spends as little time possible with everyone else, and I haven't heard her laugh or joke in days."

Daryl felt his heart stutter as he listed to Carol, saw the concern etched upon her face. He had barely seen Livi in days himself and while he had noticed her appetite hadn't picked up, he hadn't been around to really see what was going on with her. "Well what the hell is wrong with her?" he asked.

Carol looked over to where Olivia was feeding Penny. "Patricia thinks it's postpartum depression. She tried to get Olivia to let Hershel look at her, but she blew her off. Daryl... Patricia asked Glenn to go to town to get medication to treat it but the pharmacy was completely cleared out of all that stuff. So even if we could get her to take it... we don't have anything to give her."

Daryl frowned. He had heard of postpartum depression before, and although he had never known anyone that'd had it, he knew it was serious. "Fine. Thanks for telling me," he said, turning back to the goat.

"Daryl, we have to -" Carol started to say but stopped when he fixed his icy blue eyes on her. Throwing up her hands, she moved away.

As soon as Carol was gone, Daryl peeked at Livi again. "Shit, son of a bitch, God damn it!" he swore to himself. It had been one thing when it was just a little anxiety over being a new mom, but if Carol and Patricia were right...

Daryl's hands moved quickly as he continued butchering the goat, but his mind raced as he thought about what to do about Livi.

* * *

She jumped when he stood behind her and said, "Put that down and come on."

"What?" she asked as she spun around to face him. Surprise and confusion was written all over her face.

Daryl yanked the knife out of her hand and threw it down next to the carrots she had been cutting up for dinner. "I want you to come with me. Carol's watching Penny so she'll be fine for a while." He ignored Livi's protests as he pulled her across the fields and into the woods. It was another five minutes before he stopped just outside a small clearing.

"What the hell Daryl?" she yelled at him. "Who do you think you are?" Without waiting for a response she swiveled around and went to march back towards where they came from.

"I have a surprise for you..." he said dryly. He held back a chuckle as she paused. She had always loved surprises.

"What type of surprise?" she asked, her eyes narrowed with mistrust. Apparently she hadn't forgotten that on occasion he had set up some surprises that were more practical jokes than anything else.

Daryl jerked his head to the side. "This way," he moved over to where he had set it up. When they walked around the bushes in front of them, she looked at him questioningly. "Thought you might like the practice and I'd like to see how good you really are." He had used paint to set up a practice range with still targets as well as some moving targets he had rigged up.

She walked over and looked down at her bow and quiver. "Daryl, we don't have time for this. I need to go help out with dinner." She shook her head slightly and began to move off.

He stepped in front of her to block her path. "We have time. The others are fine with you taking some time to yourself. Besides, we haven't spent much time together lately." When she didn't give in right away he lowered his voice. "I miss you Livi. I thought you'd want to spend some time with me."

"Fine," she sighed. "A half hour only. Then I really have to get back." She reached down and snapped up her bow, stringing it with sure hands.

When she set up to take her first shot, Daryl raised his eyebrows. She was standing much farther back than he would have thought. She released the arrow and when it embedded himself deep into the bark of the tree right at the edge of the paint, he smiled in delight. Livi however wasn't as happy. He heard her let out a sound of disgust as she notched another. For ten minutes he let her warm up, get the feel of the bow again. Her shots had become increasingly more accurate, until they were all in the center of the paint.

"Nice job Livi," he praised her as he moved over to yank the arrows out of the wood. "You've got some skill."

"It's not hard when the targets are so close," she said petulantly. "Even still.. took me forever to hit it well."

Daryl bit back the urge to snap at her, to tell her to stop whining. "Why don't we try some moving targets?" he asked instead.

"Yeah, fine," she said as he handed her back her arrows.

Daryl was frustrated, he thought this would be easier, to find a way to talk to her about what was going on. The problem was, she wasn't talking at all unless he asked her a direct question and even then he tended to get a yes/no answer or simply a look. He had never known Livi to fail to prattle on about something or another.

He grabbed one of the large logs he had tied to the branch of a tree and hauled it back. He released it and it started swinging. She let the arrow loose and it hit the middle of the log, no problem. As it swung back and forth, she aimed again and again. As the fifth arrow hit the middle of the paint, Daryl released a second and third log he had tied up.

"Fuck she's good," he thought to himself. He couldn't help but admire the smooth way she pivoted as she aimed, the efficient moves of her arms as she pulled arrow after arrow out of her quiver.

When the last arrow was embedded in the wood, she lowered her bow and Daryl leaned back against the trunk of a large oak tree that had fallen into the clearing. Pulling out a cigarette out of the pack he had found today, he lit it and blew out the smoke appreciatively.

"Damn I miss just going down to pick up a pack at the corner store," he said trying to draw her into conversation. "What do you miss?"

She moved over next to him and plucked a smoke from the pack herself. Shrugging she said, "Haven't really thought about it." She reached into his shirt pocket and grabbed the lighter that he had tucked in there.

"Don't give me that shit. There's got to be something." He squinted at her through the smoke as she lit her cigarette. "When did you start smoking?" he wondered out loud.

"Picked it up in college, but it didn't last long. When my father caught me smoking one night I thought he was going to kill me. Still... every now and then," she gave him a slight smile.

Daryl noticed she had sidestepped his first question. He'd just have to be more direct. "Wanna talk about it?" When she only puffed on her cigarette again he persisted. "You've got people worried Livi."

"I... I don't know what it is," she began. "I just feel as though everyday I lose something of myself, that something in me is dying."

Daryl didn't know what to say, he hadn't prepared himself for an answer like this. Fact was, he hadn't prepared himself at all for this conversation and as he searched for something to say, he berated himself for being so stupid. What the hell had he been thinking?

Luckily Livi continued before the silence stretched out for too long. "I look at Penny sometimes and I wonder who's baby is this.. how did she get to be mine? I mean, look at the life she's going to live, the world she'll grow up in. Even when she's sleeping I just lay there all night and look at her. I can't protect her from everything that's out there, or from what could come here. There's so much going through my mind I can't shut it off, I can't sleep. I'm so tired I can't deal with her but then I feel so guilty for wanting time away from her."

As Livi began crying softly, Daryl sat there shocked. How could he not have realized what was going on with her? Tossing his cigarette aside, he reached over and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. His hands ran up and down her back, trying to soothe her.

"Shhh," he whispered over and over again. "It's going to be okay."

"How is it going to be okay?" Livi screeched at him, pulling away. "With everything that's going on out there, how can you say that?"

"Livi," he rushed to reassure her. "It will be alright. I won't let anything happen to you or Penny."

She laughed wildly. "Daryl, you can't stop it! It's going to come here whether you want it to or not! I mean look at this place," she spun around, holding out her arms. "It's beautiful and secluded, but still it isn't safe! Not only could those things come, but we don't know if there's someone scouring the countryside looking for us. And if they do find us, they're going to kill us or worse! It's never going to be safe again!"

She was losing it and Daryl felt as if he was rooted to the spot. He watched as she laughed hysterically at the same time tears ran down her face in a continuous stream. Suddenly she stopped her gaze fixed upon his horrified expression, "Huh, you know it too, don't you?" she murmured.

It wasn't until she grabbed hold of one of the hanging branches and started pulling out the arrows that the fear that was twisting within him galvanized him into action. He bolted towards her and grabbing her by the waist, he ripped the arrows away from her as he spun her away from the weapons.

He tossed the arrows aside and ran his hands over her body. Satisfied that she had no weapons tucked anyplace, he let her go and she staggered back. "We're going to be fine Livi, we've made it this far," he said with far more conviction than he felt. "But right now you need to go see Patricia and Hershel. You're sick and you need some help. They'll figure out a way to help you."

"No one can help me," she said despondently as she sank to the forest floor crying.

* * *

Daryl paced back and forth as he waited for them to come out of the room. Finally the door opened and Hershel emerged. "We sedated her, and Patricia's with her," he said, a grave expression on his face. "Patricia knows more about this thing, but I agree with her, that it's postpartum depression. It seems very severe. It could be she was just prone to it, or it could be that with everything going on it just made it worse, I don't know."

Daryl nodded as Hershel talked. "How do we get her better?" he asked.

"She needs medication, but I understand Glenn didn't find anything down at the pharmacy today. Someone's going to have to go farther out, look in other places. Hopefully they'll find something."

There was a tone to Hershel's voice that had Daryl's stomach twisting in knots. "And if they don't?" He held his breath as he waited for Hershel to answer.

Hershel wasn't able to meet Daryl's direct glare. "I just don't know, and neither does Patricia. The depression is severe and she's extremely sleep deprived. That coupled with the fact that she's not eating, and the world she's living in, the stress of it all..." Hershel trailed off, unwilling to say the rest.

Daryl swallowed hard, hearing in Hershel's voice what he didn't want to say. "Livi's mom killed herself," he whispered. "But she was sick with cancer."

Hershel sucked in a breath. "If her mom suffered from depression, that could partially explain it. Depression seems to be influenced by genetics. She's going to need medication."

"I'll go in the morning," Daryl said quickly. "Just tell me what to get."

"I thought you might. Patricia wrote out a list of medications for you. But Daryl, there are two lists. The first include medications that Olivia can breast feed on, the second she can't. If you have to get something from the second list, you'll need to pick up formula. Also, she's going to need to be on it for a while so get as much as you can."

"How long is a while?" Daryl asked.

Hershel pressed his lips together. "Could be over a year, depends on how she does. But it'll be months at the minimum. And she can't just stop any of these medications suddenly. It would be dangerous."

"Can I see her?" Daryl felt both desperate to see her and afraid that Hershel would say yes.

Hershel shook his head, "She's going to be sleeping for a while, but you can see her later. Besides, Rick was waiting for you to get back. He wants to talk to everyone about what to do about Randall, he wants to finish it."


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello again! Glad you all came back to see me! I wanted to point out that I've added a flashback in this chapter, I've put it in italics. I don't usually do flashbacks, (this is my first), but it felt right to add one here. Hopefully it's not too awkward. **

**Just wanted to say thanks to everyone that's come this far, I know there are a lot of great stories out there and I feel grateful that you all have picked mine to read. (Round of applause to all of you!) **

* * *

She woke slowly, amazed when she cracked her eyelids that it was still dark. She felt as though she had been sleeping for hours and hours. Sighing contentedly, she burrowed back under the covers. "Sleeping for hours and hours," she murmured, a thought playing at the edge of her mind.

With a gasp she bolted up out of the bed, throwing back the covers and landing on her feet all in one motion. The next moment had her letting out a small shriek and falling backwards as a shadowy figure leapt to their feet in the corner of the room.

"Livi!" Daryl's voice called out. "It's just me." Placing her hand on her beating heart, she whispered his name. "It's okay, don't worry," he said soothingly as he slowly advanced to where she had sprawled across the bed.

"What is going on?" she asked. "Where's Penny?"

As Daryl moved towards her, she felt herself blushing at the memory of how she had acted earlier, how she had completely fallen apart. embarrassed, she pulled herself up into a sitting position.

She was trying to smooth her hair back from her face when he answered. "Penny's with Carol, she's fine, don't worry. Hershel gave you a shot to make you sleep, you really needed it."

The heaviness in her breasts had her wondering about the time. If she felt like this, Penny had to be starving. "I have to go, I have to feed the baby," she murmured as she stood.

"Nah, uh." He pushed her back down onto the bed. "Carol's got the formula and bottles that you found in the car. She's going to keep Penny all night. You get back in bed." He swung her legs up and was pulling at the sheets when she stopped him.

Pushing the sheets back off her legs, she said, "Daryl, I can't, I have to feed her. I'll never be able to sleep if I don't."

"Why would you... ?" He began as his eyes roamed over her. "Oh," he muttered as his gaze fell upon her chest.

Even in the dark room that was lit only by small streaks of moonlight that was peaking around the edge of the curtains, she knew that he could see that her breasts were straining against the fabric of the t-shirt, that there was subtle wet marks staining the cotton.

"Can't you just...," he made a milking motion with his hands.

"I'm not a cow Daryl!" she snapped. Pushing him out of the way, she scooted to the edge of the bed to stand.

"Wait, Hershel said that you wouldn't be able to feed her tonight anyways because of the shot. You'll have to figure it out."

There was something in his expression that had her doubting the truth of his statement. But the only way to know for sure would be to ask Hershel and it was the middle of the night. "Fine, but you'll have to excuse me."

Stalking off into the bathroom she had to restrain herself from slamming the door behind her. Olivia didn't even know why she was so angry, they were all doing what they thought was best for her. After yesterday, she couldn't deny any longer that there was a problem, that this wasn't just the baby blues.

Fighting back the tears that threatened to come for no particular reason, she turned on the faucet. The simple act caused her to smile wryly. How much of a luxury that was, to have running water. It was something that had always been taken for granted before, but not now. She let the cool water flow over her hands before splashing the water on her face. Whatever Hershel had given her had left her in a fog.

Sighing, she straightened so she could try to express some milk. She had read how to do it, but that was months ago, and it was trickier than she thought. Over and over she tried with no luck. "Jesus, I wish I was a cow," she muttered. "Be a hell of a lot easier."

A tv show flashed through her mind, it was one of those pay channel shows. On it one of the women was in the same boat she was, and finally ended up getting her brother in law to give her a hand. Olivia chuckled to herself, remembering how appalled she had been watching it, but now she fully understood the desperation of the situation.

As she relaxed thinking about the show, she finally had some luck. Sighing with relief, she managed to express enough milk so that she didn't feel as though she was about to burst. Pulling her shirt back down, she washed her hands and opened the door.

There he was, just leaning against the opposite wall waiting for her to come out. "What? Did you need the bathroom?"

"Nope. You were just taking so long I just wanted to check to see how you were doing, if you needed anything." Daryl answered.

Her lips twitched as she thought about that show again, and she wondered what Daryl's reaction would have been if she hadn't been able to express any milk and had asked him to give her a hand. "I'm good," she said as she headed back to the bedroom. "What time is it anyways?" she asked him as he followed her in. She never knew how he did it, but Daryl could always tell time, day or night. He was rarely off by more than fifteen minutes.

He pulled the curtain back to look out at the night sky. "Hmm, I'd say around three-thirty or so." She was pulling up the covers when he turned to look at her.

As he stood there in the moonlight, Olivia stared at him. His face was relaxed and he looked so sure of himself, so confident. But most surprising was that there was a gentleness about him that she hadn't seen before. She wondered if it had always been there or if it was something new.

Daryl suddenly yanked the curtains together tightly and moved briskly across the room to sit in the old recliner that was in the corner again.

Though she was startled by his sudden change in demeanor, Olivia had been around him enough not to show it. "You're not going to sleep there?"

"It's not bad, definitely had worse," Daryl replied. "Besides I was doing just fine before you sprung out of bed like it was on fire."

Olivia could hear the amusement in his voice, it caused her to gnash her teeth together. "Well why aren't you sleeping in your tent?"

"Cause," was all he said.

"Cause why?" she demanded. She already knew the answer, but she was irritated and wanted to make him uncomfortable.

Daryl shifted restlessly in the chair. "Wanted to keep an eye on you tonight, okay?" It was clear he was unhappy to be having this conversation.

Olivia felt bad, she must have truly worried him this afternoon if he was sleeping here _and_ admitting that it was because he was concerned about her. She had expected him to tell her to shut up about it, to let him get some sleep.

Her voice gentle, she called out to him. "Daryl, could you come here?" He sighed but did as she asked. When he stood in front of her, she scooted over and patted the side of the bed. "We can share. Besides, I'd like the company."

He stood there for a moment, and Olivia wondered if he was going to head to his own tent after all. But then he sat down on the edge of the bed and bent over to remove his boots. He continued undressing and Olivia simply laid back to stare at the ceiling. She heard his clothes hit the floor one by one, before the covers were lifted and she could feel the heat from his body.

She twisted so that she was laying on her side facing him, and saw that he was facing away from her. The light that came in the windows was enough to highlight the scars that crisscrossed his back. If anything, the moonlight made the scar tissue shine, showing every fine line that marked his body.

Unthinking she reached out and traced her fingers over one of the scars. It started almost to the top of his shoulder and continued down below the covers. When her fingertips lost track of that mark, she brought them back up to find another scar, then another. When she laid her hand on him for a forth time, he twisted in bed so suddenly, her whole body froze.

His hand closed around her wrists and he pulled her so that as he continued to roll, she was laying under him, arms pinned above her head. She could see that there was no gentleness in him now, that the softness that was on his face earlier was gone. But this too, was new, she had never seen this side of him before either. So many emotions flashed across his face that she wasn't able to differentiate one from another.

She looked up at him with wide eyes, her breath coming out in pants as her heart raced in her chest. There was a tightening in her stomach, that seemed to send a flutter out to all of her limbs. For thirty seconds they lay like that, before he released her and rolled off of her all at once. Daryl reached down and dragged his jeans up his legs before hopping up to yank them over his hips.

He leaned over and scooped up the rest of his clothes, heading for the door without bothering to put them on. His fingers were on the doorknob when she finally found her voice. "Daryl, I..." she trailed off, unsure of what to say.

He paused but didn't look back before he pulled the door open and stepped out into the house. She heard the slam of the screen door and she moved to stand at the window so that she could watch him walk away.

* * *

As soon as the sun came up over the edge of the farm, Olivia stepped out onto the porch. It had seemed as though the sun had decided never to rise again as she lay in the bed waiting for it. The look on Daryl's face kept popping into her mind, no matter how hard she tried to push it away.

She had crossed a line with him and she knew it. Daryl hated anyone to see his scars, he rarely took his shirt off around anyone. Over the years as she cleaned the new ones that popped up from time to time, he had gotten used to being shirtless around her, but she never mentioned anything about the other scars, she only focused on the fresh one.

She berated herself for being so stupid as she sank down to the porch steps. Of all people she knew better than to do something like that.

Olivia had no idea why she had done what she had done last night, she had done it without thinking. In the light the scars had seemed to tell a story, not only of Daryl's past, but of hers as well. She remembered the night that he had staggered in to the guest house, barely able to stand.

_The door bust open, and when she hurried out of the bathroom, Daryl was standing in the doorway, swaying on his feet. She had no need to ask what had happened, his face told the story better than he ever would. When she helped him sit down onto the couch, her hand had come away wet and glistening with blood. _

_"God Daryl," Olivia cried out. She pushed him back so she could start undoing the buttons on the front of his shirt. _

_The sudden, tight grip of his hand on hers caused her to stop. "Don't," he managed to croak out. "I'm fine."_

_Anger had flowed through her then, anger not just at Daryl's good for nothing father, but at him as well. "You're not fine," she snapped, brushing his hands out of the way. "You're bleeding all over the couch."_

_He tried to stop her, but she was fast and before he knew it, his shirt was unbuttoned and she was pushing it off his shoulders. Olivia took in the amount of scars on his chest, there were definitely more than than that one other time she had seen him shirtless, the day that they met, six months prior, but she ignored them, and yanking Daryl into a sitting position she gently peeled the fabric away from the bleeding wounds. _

_His back had looked like raw hamburger, causing the trout that she'd had for dinner to rise unpleasantly in her throat. Swallowing hard she said, "Lay down on your stomach, I'll be right back."_

_Hurrying over to the linen closet she pulled out some soft towels and the first aid kit. She dropped them on the floor by him than scurried to the kitchen. As she waited for the water to warm up, she wiped the tears from her eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm herself. _

_He had cried out softly when she first started to clean the cuts, but Olivia steeled herself to any pain he might be feeling and simply concentrated on getting it done. The worst gash was deep, it needed stitches, but she knew he'd never go to a hospital for it. So she had done something she never thought she would. With a quilting needle and thread she had stitched him up. From the top of his shoulder blade all the way to his waist. She had no idea how he managed to stand it, but he did. _

_When the last stitch was cut, she laid a towel gently over him and laid ice packs all over his back to help with the pain. She began picking up all her discarded supplies and when their eyes met as she moved to pick up his blood soaked shirt, she had stopped what she was doing, afraid of what he was going to say. Daryl's eyes had been hard as he looked at her, but slowly they began to soften. _

_When his hand grabbed hers and gave it a grateful squeeze, she had smiled and leaned over to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Get some sleep," she said softly. "I'm going to stay in here tonight." _

_He did fall asleep there that night and the next and the next. It was five full days until he was able to leave. _

Although that was probably the worst she had ever seen him, it wasn't the last time he showed up like that. However, the next time she had antiseptic, steri-strips, bandages and pain killers lining the shelves of the bathroom.

She was actually grateful when she heard Penny's cry drift through the early morning air. Penny would be able to keep her mind off of Daryl and their past. Pushing herself up off the porch steps, she hurried over to Carol's tent.

"Knock, knock," she said softly as she unzipped the tent flap.

"Morning," Carol said. "I think your little girl has been missing you." Putting down the bottle she had been getting ready to make up, she lifted Penny out of her basket and passed her over to Olivia.

Olivia cradled Penny in her arms and looked down at the fussing baby. She had missed her too, the depth of her emotions surprising her after so many days of feeling numb. "Thanks Carol, I appreciate you watching her."

Carol gave her a warm smile. "I didn't mind, she's such a good baby. How are you feeling this morning?"

"Better," Olivia said. "All that sleep really helped." And it did, but she couldn't help her thoughts from turning to Daryl once again. As his face popped up in her mind, she didn't even notice Carol talking to her.

"Olivia? Olivia? You alright?"

Blinking away the vision, Olivia gave Carol a reassuring smile. "Yeah Carol, I just got distracted by something." Penny's crying became more insistent. "I'll go feed her, let you get a little more sleep. It's still early yet, you could get another hour or two."

At the mention of a few more hours of sleep, Carol yawned widely. "If it's still early... I've forgotten what it's like to have a newborn around."

Olivia nodded, "Thanks again Carol," she said as she ducked out of the tent.

After her stomach was full, Penny was contentedly drifting off to sleep, her little face relaxed. Olivia looked at her, examining every inch of her, willing herself to remember. It broke her heart that there were no cameras anymore, that she'd never have a picture of her baby girl at this age.

When Daryl emerged from his tent, Olivia straightened her shoulders and stood to go talk to him. Taking care not to jostle the baby, she hurried as fast as she could.

"Daryl! Daryl wait!" When he didn't even look in her direction, just kept walking towards the driveway, she picked up the pace. "Daryl!" she tried again.

When he swung his leg over his bike and kicked it to life, she stopped. He obviously didn't want to talk to her, and even if she did catch up to him before he took off, he'd never listen to what she had to say. Despair coursed through her as she watched him turn the bike around and speed down the driveway.

She sunk down to the ground, wiping the tears away as she wondered if she had just lost her best friend.

* * *

**Just wanted to say thanks to NoirChick who has been kind enough to be letting me run ideas by her. I so appreciate it! **


	10. Chapter 10

**In the last five days, this story has added over 20 followers! That's so exciting for me! Now if only I could convince you all to review... **

**I have to say I enjoyed the fact that you all couldn't really decide what was going on in Daryl's head last chapter. It seems as though everyone had a different idea of what he was thinking. This chapter should clear that up.**

* * *

The hot wind blowing past him caressed his face like a gentle touch. He had wanted the solitude of the ride to get what happened out of his mind, but even the God damn wind wasn't cooperating. All it did was remind him of how her hands had felt on his back, the warmth of her touch.

When she first began to trace his scars, he had closed his eyes and somehow smothered the groan that had threatened to escape. Normally, he wouldn't have let anyone touch him like that, but Daryl hadn't felt pity in her touch, only comfort.

As her fingers trailed down his back over that scar that she had stitched up so long ago, heat spread across his body from where ever her skin touch his. By the third time she laid her hands on him, there was a tightness in his stomach and a feeling of heaviness in his groin. He prayed that she would stop... and that she wouldn't.

Finally he had snapped, he couldn't take it for a minute longer. He had just meant to stop her but before he knew what he was doing she was under him, looking at him with those emerald eyes. He had so wanted to lower his head those few inches, press his lips to hers, but her eyes hadn't held desire, only surprise mixed with a little bit of fear.

Even still, as her breath washed over his face, the scent of her skin rose up to torture him and he had to fight with himself to release her. Daryl shook his head disgusted with himself as he thought about it. Not only had she had a baby only a few weeks prior, but she was dealing with something huge. And all he could think about was how he wanted to taste her, to touch her.

There were so many things he could have done differently last night. He should have just let her go earlier, let her find Penny to feed her, but he had wanted her to go back to bed, sleep for as long as she could. And then, when she called him over, asked him to stay with her, he could have left, he had thought about it for a moment. But she had looked so beautiful and sad and vulnerable sitting there in the moonlight, that he just couldn't bring himself to turn around and walk out the door. If he had done either of those things, it wouldn't have happened, he wouldn't have done what he did. Jesus, he hated the fact that he had scared her.

When he left this morning, he knew she was running after him, trying to stop him. But what could he say to her? Daryl sighed, it seemed as though since they found each other again, he just kept saying and doing the wrong things. It sure was different from that easy friendship they had shared so long ago.

Her face remained foremost in his mind as he pulled up to the front of the pharmacy. Even as he circled around, looking for a way in, she dominated his thoughts. No matter how hard he tried to think of what he was doing, it all came back to her. Even what he was doing now came back to Olivia.

Daryl was both pleased and frustrated that the pharmacy was locked up tight. It meant he had a good chance of finding what he needed plus some, but that was only if he managed to get in.

Seeing a fire escape, he pulled a dumpster over and hoisted himself on the edge in order to pull down the ladder. It was just out of his reach, and twice he almost found himself tumbling back into the putrid soup that was whirling around in the metal container. It was the smell that finally drove him to jump for the metal ladder, a cry of triumph escaping as his hand closed around the bottom rung.

Daryl moved spryly, his hands and feet carrying him to the top in under a minute. He scanned the rooftop and chuckled. Sure enough there was a hatch that no doubt led down into the service area of the store.

When he tried pulling it up, it held tight, but he wasn't concerned. He had spent enough time in his youth doing things that he shouldn't have been doing, to know exactly how to get it open. Using the crowbar he had brought with him, he positioned it against the narrow crack between the hatch and the casing. He then wrapped an old shirt over the other end to mask the noise and pounded on it with a hammer until the metal worked its way into the opening. One good shove had the padlock on the inside popping loose from the wall.

"Idiots use the strongest lock and secure it with 1/2" screws," he muttered to himself. Well, their stupidity was to his advantage. Quickly he shoved the tools back into the backpack and threw the straps over his shoulders. He dropped into the opening and scurried down to the receiving area.

The air inside was stale, with a slight musty odor, like a vacation house that hadn't been used in a while. Sneezing lightly at the dust he had stirred up, Daryl continued moving towards the front of the store.

He pushed through the swinging double doors and swore. There in the paper goods isle was two walkers, a man and woman, both in their pajamas. As they started towards him, he struggled to dump the backpack so that he could get to the crossbow that was pinned underneath.

As the woman reached him, he gave up trying to get at his Horton and yanked the hunting knife from its sheath. Using a roll of paper towels to block her snapping jaws, Daryl buried the knife straight into her forehead. Keeping her body between his and the man's, Daryl struggled to free his knife. It finally came free with a pop, and dropping her body, Daryl grabbed the man's pajama top and slammed the knife up through his lower jaw.

"Jesus," he muttered. "That was close." And it was, it was too close for comfort. He had been so happy to see the store locked up tight, he hadn't bothered to think about the employees that had keys and might take refuge there.

Having learned his lesson, Daryl pulled the backpack off and swung the crossbow around. He went through the entire store, making sure that this time he really was alone. Once he was convinced, he picked his bag back up and hurried back towards the pharmacy.

Sliding across the counter Dukes of Hazzard style, Daryl laughed. He could picture Livi's roll of the eyes had she been there, how she would have daintily walked around to the opening. But she would have smiled, happy that he was being so carefree.

Thinking about her again caused Daryl to focus. He was here for her, and he had a job to do. The bottle of spilled pills caught Daryl's eye and he lifted it up to examine it. Antibiotics by the looks of it. The label on the smaller bottle next to it had Daryl whooping with joy. Apparently one of the geeks he took down had access to the drug safe, and if it was open...

Daryl had to grab another bag from the front of the store in order to pack up everything he could. He got every medication on Patricia's list, as well as everything on Hershel's. The drug safe was cleared out and he even did a little shopping for other items, although he was disappointed he was having to leave such a stash of toilet paper behind. It was just too bulky.

When he had everything he could possibly carry, he headed back for the roof ladder. As he passed the loading door, he stopped. Right there on the shelf was a set of keys. Smiling to himself, he picked up the keys and tested them in the door. Daryl pulled it open and once he made sure the back was clear, he tossed out the bags and pulled the door shut, locking it behind him.

A glance at the sky had him swearing, he had spent too much time in the store gathering everything. He had to get back to Livi, she was counting on him. As his mind settled on her once again, the look that had been in her eyes haunted his soul as he pulled back out onto the road.

Swerving around a broken down truck, Daryl screeched to a halt. His mind might have been on Olivia and what happened, but some part of him was still scanning the road. He kicked the stand down and leaving the bike running, he hopped off swinging his crossbow off his back.

There was a gun rack in the back of the truck, and where there were gun racks, there was typically rounds. Taking aim, he swung the truck door opened and immediately gagged from the stench.

Flies and various other bugs flew out of the open door, buzzing by his head. "Fuck me," Daryl muttered, taking inventory of the bloodbath that was in the truck. There wasn't a body, just pieces, and it was more than one if the two left feet that fell out the open door and onto the asphalt was any indication.

Daryl could see the butt of a handgun peeking out from under the drivers side seat. Careful not to touch anything, Daryl pulled it out a Sig Sauer P226 with an extended clip. Daryl couldn't help but smile when he saw that the gun was fully loaded. Moving quickly, he circled around to the passenger side. There was nothing in the glove box, but the bed of the truck looked like it was still packed full of stuff.

Throwing off the tarp that was covering the supplies in the back of the truck, Daryl climbed in to the bed. He began rummaging through the various stacks, pleased to find cans of food and some basic medical supplies. Although he was in a hurry, the supplies here were too exposed for him to hope that they might still be here if he came back later. He was thankful that he'd already made it to the pharmacy, now he'd be able to pack up as much stuff as he could and not worry about leaving room for anything else.

He had just pulled a large duffel over when he heard the first moan. He raised his head to look directly into the eyes of a walker that was shuffling his way, arms extended. Daryl moved like lightning, sending the bolt flying and it pierced the bridge of the nose, lodging itself in the thing's brain.

He was about to jump out of the bed of the truck when he heard more sounds. Risking being seen, he stood slowly to peek over the roofs of the cars on the road. There were walkers everywhere, it was another herd. "Fuck me," he snarled. There had to be at least eighty walkers coming down the road straight for him.

Daryl briefly considered making a run for his bike, but they were too close and that stupid bike had been acting up lately. If it stalled, then they'd be on him before he'd even be able to get off. Quickly Daryl laid down in the bed of the pickup and pulled the tarp back over him. With any luck they'd go right past.

Barely breathing, he listened as they began to shuffle past. At the rate they were going he figured it would take the whole herd about fifteen minutes to pass by. Time went by and instead of the sounds moving away, they were staying right by him.

Jesus, it was the bike, he had left it running. They were all drawn to the hum of the motorcycle as it waited for its rider to climb back on.

Fueled by frustration, his right arm jerked, his elbow knocking over the stack of cans he had so recently pulled from one of the boxes. Daryl held his breath as he waited to see if they heard the cans clatter or not.

His heart was pumping so fast that he could barely hear the walkers over the sound that it was making. It stopped cold however, when he felt a hand grope at his leg through the tarp. It took all his self control not to jerk his leg out from under the rotting flesh.

If he hadn't been so focused on keeping his body as still as it could be, the sound of the bike crashing to the ground would surely have caused him to jump. Daryl listened as the bike's motor sputtered twice before falling silent. He couldn't help the smile that pulled at his lips. He never thought he'd be happy that bike had taken a tumble.

Still it was a couple of hours before the geeks moved off, no doubt drawn by the sound of something else in the distance. By the time Daryl emerged, it had gotten unbearably hot under the tarp. He felt like a t.v. diner that had been cooked to long in the microwave.

Cracking open a bottle of water he guzzled it down, saving only the last few drops to pour on top of his head. With a sigh, he hoisted the heavy bike back to a standing position. He was hesitant to try to start it, the sound might draw them back, but it was going to be dark soon. He gave himself twenty minutes to pack up whatever he could and then he'd have to get started on the bike.

The sun was setting when he finally got the motorcycle to sputter a little. "Come on you bitch," he snarled. "Start!" Two more adjustments and the bike finally roared to life. "Hell yeah!" Daryl celebrated, his hands curled tightly into triumphant fists.

Checking the straps holding the supplies down one last time, Daryl climbed on the bike. He wove his way through all the vehicles and discarded supplies on the highway as fast as he could.

He knew that at this point everyone would be worried, he should have been back hours ago. Besides, he had told Rick last night that after he got back today, he'd help him deal with Randall for good.

Daryl's mind was racing so fast, he didn't notice the truck that he passed as he drove through town had men in it, not walkers. The sound of the motorcycle hid the start of another engine, and since they didn't turn on their headlights, he had no idea that someone was trailing him, that they stopped at the end of the driveway marked with a mailbox that said Greene.


	11. Chapter 11

The rumble of the bike had her turning around to look. "See," Carol said. "I told you he'd be back soon. That man knows how to take care of himself."

Olivia nodded, her relief that he was fine fighting with her anxiety over seeing him after last night. When the sound of the bike woke Penny, she sighed wearily. The hours of sleep she had gotten last night had made her feel better, but the stress she'd been feeling all day had sapped her strength from her once more.

Still, it would be better to just go talk to him, get it all over with now. Olivia knew that she'd have a hard time sleeping tonight, weary as she was, with this hanging over her head.

She hung back at the edge of the group, watching as Daryl unloaded bag after bag of supplies.

"What the hell took you so long man?" Shane asked as grabbed a pair of duffels. "Rick's been waiting on ya."

Not bothering to look up, Daryl answered. "Had a bit of a run in with a herd of walkers. Had to wait 'em out."

Olivia felt a tightening in her stomach at his words. What if he had gotten hurt going out doing something for her? How would she have lived with that?

"Hmm," Shane murmured. "Was thinking maybe something happened to you."

Olivia couldn't help but think Shane looked a little disappointed that wasn't the case. She knew there was no love lost between these two men, but until that moment, she didn't realize the full extent of it.

As the crowd around Daryl began to thin out, Olivia walked up to him. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked quietly.

"I got these," T-Dog offered, grabbing the last two bags out of Daryl's hands. "You can come up when you're done."

Smiling gratefully at him, Olivia said "Thanks, I'll keep him for just a minute."

"Yeah Olivia, no problem," T-Dog said as he walked away, prodding the last few stragglers along.

Steeling herself for whatever might happen, Olivia rotated to look at Daryl. He was turned slightly away from her, his eyes fixed on something across the yard. "Daryl, about last night..."

"Look," he cut her off. "Can we just forget about last night?" His eyes flickered over to hers for a moment and then returned to the same spot.

Olivia could feel the tears getting ready to come, she didn't want to cry in front of him, not now. "Sure, alright," she managed to get out. "I just want to say thanks for going today, I appreciate it."

Having gotten the words out without crying, she spun away just in time for the first tears to slide down her cheeks. She had been hoping that by the time he got back, he'd have forgiven her. But it was apparent by his reaction that he hadn't, and he had no desire to let her apologize.

Ignoring Patricia waving at her from the porch, she hurried to her tent. Placing Penny gently in her basket, Olivia sprawled out onto her bed. Stuffing her face into her pillow she began weeping.

"Oh honey," Patricia's voice filled the tent a few minutes later. "It's going to be alright. Daryl managed to bring back some medications for you." Her hands slid over Olivia's back soothingly. "We're going to get you started on some and you'll feel better soon, I promise."

At the mention of Daryl's name Olivia just started crying harder. "Honey, talk to me. Is something bothering you?" Patricia asked patiently.

Gasping for air, Olivia lifted her head. "I did something awful...and now he hates me...and still... he went out..." She couldn't finish her sentence, the thought of him risking himself for her just added fuel to the fire. She laid her face back in the pillow just in time to start wailing again.

Far from being satisfied Patricia asked, "Who? Daryl? Why would he hate you?" Her soft hands moved from Olivia's back to her hair. She began tugging the strands that were sticking to her face and smoothing them back.

Not risking raising her head to answer and having the whole camp hear her crying, Olivia answered into the pillow. "I did... some...thing...without...thinking." She was crying so hard, she only managed to get a word out every other second.

Patricia sat there silently for a moment before she spoke very quietly. "I've seen a lot of things in my life and there's one thing I can tell you. That man doesn't hate you, not one fiber of his being feels that way. If something happened between you two, I think he's feeling just as guilty as you do about it."

She lifted her head off the pillow and hiccupped. "Really?" Olivia said hopefully.

"Yes really," Patricia smiled down at her. "But he will be angry if he brought back all this medicine and you don't take it. Now sit up and take what I've brought you." She shook out a pill from one of the bottles next to her.

Sniffling, Olivia sat up and brushed the tears from her face. As her fingers closed on the pill in Patricia's palm she stopped. "What about Penny?" she asked hesitantly.

Shaking her head, Patricia said, "Don't worry about it. You can breast feed on this. Daryl only brought back the medicines you could take and still feed her."

Relieved, Olivia washed the pill down with some water that Patricia handed her. "Wait, medicines? As in more than one?"

Patricia nodded. "Apparently that man wanted to make sure you were covered. He brought back just about everything that was on the list I gave him." She chuckled. "Although, it wasn't a bad idea. Sometimes one works better than another or you could have side effects and have to switch."

Olivia looked down at the blanket, plucking at a string that was hanging out. Maybe he wasn't really all that angry with her after all. Maybe she was just being overly sensitive about his reaction, she wasn't exactly thinking straight these days. When she looked back up Patricia was smiling at her. Acting impulsively, she threw her arms around the older woman. "Thanks," she whispered. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Honey, I don't know what I'd do without you and Penny." Patricia pulled back to look at her. "You two have become like family to me. With Otis's death," she took a steady breath. "I think having you here has been the best thing for me."

Olivia smiled at the older woman, touched by what she was saying, when gunshots rang out.

"Stay here," Patricia commanded as she pushed back the flap and crawled out to see what was going on.

Olivia grabbed Penny and laid down, holding her daughter tight to her body. As the gunfire continued she fought the urge to follow Patricia out of the tent, to find out what was happening.

Her eyes darted around the room and they landed upon the baby carrier Glenn had brought back for her from town the other day. Laying Penny down, Olivia scooted over and picked it up. Quickly she placed the straps over her shoulders and snapped the belt behind her.

"Shhh," she murmured to Penny as she picked her up and placed her in the seat. She was just tightening the straps when the tent flap flew open and Patricia rushed in.

"It's the other group," she said breathlessly. "They've found us." She began shoving the bottles of pills into Olivia's backpack.

"What?" Olivia whispered. Her biggest fear was coming true.

The new clothes that Glenn had brought back for her as well as the supplies for Penny were shoved in after the medications. "It doesn't look like all of them, but we have to get back with the others." Somehow Patricia managed to get the overstuffed bag zipped. "Come on, we'll go around back."

"Wait," Olivia stopped her. "The gunfire, it's gone, it's stopped." The two women shared a look, knowing that they weren't safe, not yet. They wouldn't be until they knew who had come out of that firefight alive. "Let's get to the others," Olivia said quietly.

As they passed by Daryl's tent, Olivia stopped. "Hold on, I have to get something. I'll be two seconds." Ignoring Patricia's protests she ducked inside. There, next to Daryl's bag of things was her bow and quiver. She swung the quiver over her head, and quickly strung the recurve bow.

"Okay," she said as she stepped out of the tent. Reaching for Patricia's hand, she almost jumped out of her skin when gunfire erupted again. Olivia's heart sank, knowing that the longer this went on, the less likely they were to live through it. "Come on, let's go," she said quietly.

They stepped out from behind the tent and continued on towards the house. It took Olivia a moment to realize that Patricia was no longer beside her. She turned back to ask what was the matter. When she saw the look on Patricia's face she turned to see what the older woman was staring at. The world stopped for Olivia in that moment. Walkers were pouring out of the woods, drawn by the sound of gunfire. They were almost at the edge of the camp, not even thirty feet away.

When her brain began working again, she pulled on Patricia's arm. "Come on! We've got to move!" They had to get to the house before the path was blocked. They took two more steps and walkers stepped out from behind Carol's tent. It was too late, they were already cut off from everyone else.

"Back! Go back!" Olivia cried.

Running back the way they came, they rounded the back corner of the house. "The stables!" Patricia cried out. "We have to get there."

Olivia looked towards the outbuilding. The way was clear, but walkers were coming from all directions now and there was no where to hide between where they were standing and the stables. Still, it was their best shot. "Okay," she said. "We have to hurry."

Together they ran as fast as they could, Olivia trying to brace Penny against her to minimize the bouncing. Still the baby wasn't happy about the rough jostling and was crying loudly. The noise was attracting attention and walkers that were headed elsewhere were turning to follow them.

When they got to the building, the women breathed a sigh of relief. As Olivia tried to comfort Penny the best she could, Patricia moved quickly to the opposite wall. "Can you ride?" she asked.

"Ride? As in a horse?" Olivia asked, disbelief in her voice. When Patricia shot her a look she swallowed hard. "I rode a horse once at summer camp." She didn't add that it had been an absolutely horrifying experience for her when the horse got stung by a bee and bucked her right off.

"Well we don't have time for saddles so listen carefully. These horsed are neck reined, that means you just move your hand in the direction you want to go. Don't hold the reins too tight. To stay on, just use your legs, the more pressure you use, the faster the horse will go. You can grab a fistful of mane to help you keep your seat."

Olivia watched with wide eyes as Patricia put a bridle on a horse and led it to a wooden block. "Here, climb on up."

Swallowing the fear, Olivia climbed on top of the block. "Don't worry," she said to Penny. "Your momma's got this." She hoped she sounded a lot more confident than she felt. Knowing time was of the essence, she swung her leg over the back of the horse and lowered herself carefully onto it's back.

"Here, put this on." Patricia passed up the backpack. "You keep that with you, it's got all your medicine in it. Anything happens, you find the open bottle. Take one a day for three weeks then two a day. Every three weeks add another pill till you're feeling better. You can take up to eight a day."

As Patricia gave her the directions, she moved off to get another horse. As she led it out, she opened the other stalls and then stopped at the doors. "Ready? When I open these doors, you go. I'll be right behind you."

"Wait, how are you going to get up?" Olivia asked.

Patricia looked at the other horses. "With big meals like these guys, I think they'll ignore little old me. It'll give me time to mount the horse," she said, tears in her eyes. "Ready?"

Olivia readjusted herself and grabbed a firm hold on the reins. "Ready," she said, ignoring the dread in her stomach.

Patricia threw open the barn door and started to rush back to the mounting block. Olivia gave a slight squeeze of her knees and the horse moved slowly forward. Another squeeze didn't help much, so she gave it a kick.

The horse took off like a shot, and Olivia squealed with surprise. When she came out of the barn door, she was glad she was moving at such a good pace. Hands covered in rotting flesh reached out to grab her, but they only brushed across her legs. Seeing a slight opening in the swarm of bodies, she pulled the reins to the left. Luckily, the horse seemed to have the same thought and turned easily, picking up the pace even more.

Olivia held on tight and trusted that the horse would find it's way through the throng with minimal help from her. As she reached the edge of the woods where there was only a few walkers now, she heard a shout. She tried to turn to see, but she was afraid she was going to lose her balance. Risking it, she pulled the horse to a stop. As she rotated around, Patricia's horse streaked past her... with no Patricia.

Gasping, Olivia strained her neck to see if she could locate her, but all she could see was a group of walkers, groaning excitedly, crowded around something. With tears in her eyes, Olivia nudged the horse back into a trot and headed into the woods.

As soon as she got five feet past the tree line, Olivia realized she had a problem. Without the light of the moon, she couldn't see anything in front of her. Not knowing anything about horses, she didn't know if the horse could see anything either.

Pulling back on the reins she slowed to a walk. Penny who had miraculously drifted off to sleep during the mad dash from the barn, began to fuss again. Hastily, Olivia placed a finger in her mouth to calm her.

Carefully, the horse plodded through the forest. Olivia quickly realized that without the sun, she had no idea what direction they were headed in. Turning the horse to the left, Olivia could just barely see the edge of the fields that surrounded the house. She tried to keep the fields in sight, hoping to come across the driveway.

She had forgotten about the swamp that ran along the west side of the property though, and when she reached it she realized she had two choices. Go back towards the house and try to cut across the lawn, or go farther into the woods.

Trying to remember the map that she had seen her second day at the farm, Olivia turned the horse deeper into the woods. She'd just have to find another way through and hope that she'd meet back up with everyone.


End file.
